201st Annual Hunger Games: Roof of the Reaper
by PSULucky
Summary: In the 201st Annual Hunger Games, the Capitol will really be changing things up. 28 tributes will do battle in a surprising arena, but there can only be one victor. 27 tributes will die. 27 families will be ruined. The Capitol was never happier.
1. Introductions

**Hello and welcome to my Hunger Games fan fiction! This will be a contest between 28 tributes to determine who will be the ultimate victor. The flow of the fan fiction may be a little different than how it was presented in the actual books, but do not fear: the stuff I am going to be cutting out will, I believe, make the story go more quickly and get to the good stuff faster.**

**I will be posting this introduction, which is short, and the next chapter soon after. You will begin to meet the tributes soon. **

**P.S. There will be a poll in my profile soon regarding which tribute is your favorite. I would gladly appreciate it if you would cast a vote, for I would absolutely love to see how each tribute stacks up. Anyway, I'll stop talking now. ;)**

**I own nothing other than my OCs.**

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**Introduction**

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"But this year, no one wants that. This year, we want blood. We want gore. Most importantly, we want experience. Twenty-eight merciless, unruly killers from fourteen districts is what we want. And we don't want kids. No, we want fighters. We want farmers, miners, builders, and industrial workers. We want to see the workforce of Panem compete; we want adults who have spent their lives working and toiling, and playing with and protecting their children. We want people with stories. People who have a past. People who can suffer.

"This year, no one under the age of twenty-one is allowed in the games. So for those of you watching tonight, worry not: your children are safe…_this_ year. Per usual, there will only be one victor; this victor will need to outsmart and beat twenty-seven other tributes, all of whom will do anything to get back home to their families.

"As I speak, the reapings have begun throughout Panem. I hope — for your sake — you have not lost a loved one to the games today. But if you have, do not fret. If not the victor, your friend, family member, or even acquaintance will die supporting its country. And what can be better and more valorous than that?"

President Emerald Jayce stood by her oversized microphone and smiled with joy. Those who were watching her from their televisions, she knew, hated her. But the Capitol loved her, and so she found no discomfort being the most hated person in the country.

President Jayce's advisor stood but a few paces away from her and the cameras. The cameras were off, but Jayce remained motionless. "Do you wish to make another statement?" Jayce's advisor, Phizz, asked. "Or shall we call it a day?"

"I don't know," Jayce said. "Do you think…do you think I made enough impact? Do you think they truly understand how much we are trying to rip families apart and tear parents away from their children. You know, twenty-seven families will be ruined."

"I do know."

"I should have said that. I should have added more…more drive. More anger. More fury. They need to know that if you mess with the Capitol, your life is over. Or, worse yet, that you husband's, father's, or aunt's life is over. Turn the cameras back on."

"Yes, ma'am."

The cameras were turned back on and President Jayce was about to make another statement. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other as she prepared for another dig at the country's mental stability.

"Panem, you must understand that this should not be a time of fear and angst. No, this should be a time for celebration and happiness. The tributes are giving their lives to serve their country, something I'd hope all of you would do in addition. Instead of rebelling — or failing to rebel, in your case — you should learn to embrace exactly what Panem is all about. You need not try to stop this country, for it is more powerful than all of you, in all fourteen districts. You simply must wait and watch. And understand. You must understand that the 201st annual hunger games may indeed ruin your life, but it is for the betterment of the country. If your loved one dies, you should smile. You should not whine and cry and think about all of the things you should have done with them before the Capitol ended their lives; you should dance and party and know that your loved ones can show what true nationalism is. You should be ashamed of yourself to cry or mourn."

_Ashamed of yourself to cry or mourn._ That day, those words haunted the minds of millions of people. That day, millions of people cried. That day, millions of people mourned.

"Hear my words, Panem: let the 201st annual Hunger Games…begin!"

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**The intro was short, yes, but next chapter you will be introduced to several of the tributes. And before you know it, the Hunger Games will begin! .**


	2. D1 - D3 Tributes

**I am back with another chapter! This chapter introduces the first six tributes in the 201st Annual Hunger Games! I am thoroughly excited to post this chapter and post more in the near future. Anyway, the tributes will be introduced over a span of five chapters. After that there will be some pre-game chapters and then finally the game will begin! **

**Also, I plan to respond to each and every review I get! I like when authors take the time to show appreciation for their reviews, so I will try to put forth effort back into thanking you and responding to your reviews!**

**CelestelzaFanLolz: I appreciate your review! Also, it's the first one for the whole fan fiction. ;) And don't worry, I definitely will be posting more (and hopefully at a good pace, too). Anyway, thanks for taking the time to review and I hope you enjoy this FF.**

**Beth: Thanks for your review, too! Hopefully I'll get the chapters up quick enough and not painfully slowly. I hope you like the way this story turns out! :) I'm glad you like where the story was going because I didn't really include too much in the intro. Just enough to *hopefully pique someone's interest. Thanks for the review, again. ;)**

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**Districts 1-3 Tributes**

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Two career districts stepped off the train that had taken them to the Capitol. They were, as all career tributes were, highly anticipating the games. On top of that, they had been selected as early favorites and were, as most people thought, undoubtedly going to receive many sponsorships. Each individual not only had a high probability of winning, but a winning tribute from district one was, as always, expected.

**DISTRICT 1 MALE**

**Name: Atlas Rockwell**

**Age: 31**

Atlas looked over the scenery surrounding him. He seemed unfazed and entirely in-control. Whereas most people were heaping masses of tears and sobbing as they stepped off the train, Atlas was cool and relaxed. He moved his short, but strong body toward the building at which he would be staying. He didn't say a word to anyone, not even those who prodded him for interviews.

He was quiet. He was not the stereotypical loud-mouthed, alpha tribute. He, although strong and absolutely terrifying, was not ruthless by nature. His strategy for the games was, surprisingly, not one that required much strength of body or physical persistence. Although immeasurable from the outside, Atlas was equally as gifted mentally as he was physically.

**Caesar: So Atlas, will you kill the district one female as though she were any other tribute?**

**Atlas: I didn't really plan on killing my district partner. I don't know her personally, but I still feel as though I have some kind of connection to her. I don't think I'd be able to kill her unless she were the last one standing.**

The first night in the Tribute building was particularly easy for Atlas. Having had to do no training or physical exercise that day, Atlas merely spent the night thinking about the games and talking with his district one partner. He went to bed early that night in order to conserve his energy for the days to come.

**Caesar: Tell us something about yourself that would surprise us.**

**Atlas: This is my first time in the Capitol. Most people from my district get to go to the Capitol all the time, but this really is my first time. When the train pulled up, I was staring out the window in awe. My parents had always told me stories of the Capitol and its extravagance, but until now I never really knew what to believe.**

Atlas fell asleep that night realizing that he was not there to make friends. He knew he had had years of practice training for the games, so he was very willing and excited to get to use those skills. If someone was weeping, or if someone needed assistance, he knew he could not help that person. The thought of such cruelty disturbed him, but he wanted nothing more than to return back home to his family and say that he beat out twenty-eight other tributes.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Atlas: I have two children: a boy and a girl. I've been missing them, but I know they're strong and that they can handle me not being home for a while. Also, they've both started their elementary hunger games training a few months ago, so they'll know exactly what I'm going through.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games.**

**Atlas: I want to prove that I am the strongest out of twenty-eight people. I want to prove it to myself and to my family. I've been training for this moment for as long as I can remember, so to have more than twenty years of training snuffed out by someone hiding in the bushes will really be disappointing.**

**Caesar: Thank you Atlas. Thank you very much. Interesting reason…**

**DISTRICT 1 FEMALE**

**Name: Moon Vexus**

**Age: 25**

Moon stepped off the train and straightened her hair. She felt the beating rays of the sun on her face and immediately applied suntan lotion so as not to burn. Due to a skin condition, she was particularly susceptible to the rays of the sun. Thus, in the arena, she'd need to take great care of keeping herself out of the sun.

"Atlas," she said, "do you know where to go?" Her voice was seductive and charming, and her pitch-black, wavy hair made her look like some sort of alluring siren. Every time she finished saying something, she always pursed her lips and formed a slight smirk.

"This building right up here," Atlas answered in a deep, emotionless voice. He did not sound like the kind of person to mess with.

Moon walked behind him and looked around the Capitol. She had been there many times before, so the sights were nothing to behold. Atlas was looking around a little more excitedly, yet he did not show it. The whole scene looked rather dysfunctional; Moon was about a foot taller than Atlas (she was very tall), and the two as a pair absolutely refused to show any kind of emotion.

**Caesar: So Moon, will you be working more with your mental strength or your physical strength.**

**Moon: That question is easy: my physical strength. Since I could definitely beat and woman here in a strength contest, and probably half the men, using my physical strength should push me to about the final seven. After that, we'll have to see.**

Moon and Atlas talked for awhile about themselves.

"I have a wife," Atlas answered her question. "She's beautiful. You don't know how much she wanted to be a tribute. She wanted to volunteer in your spot, but I begged her not to. After all, then we'd both be in the arena, and one of us would have to kill the other."

"That would suck," Moon stated bluntly. "You know, we oughtta team up in the arena. Two is better than one."

"And four is better than that. We should team up with district two. Or maybe district four."

**Caesar: What's your weapon of choice?**

**Moon: Anything you can throw. Knife-throwing is a personal favorite. But if I pick up a harpoon in the arena, I'll know how to use that, too. So you better watch your back, because I'll have no problem putting a butcher's knife through it.**

Moon said to Atlas, "I could take care of the women, and you could take care of the men. I don't want there to be a woman out there who thinks she's stronger than I am. I'll show them…I'll rip them in half if I have to. I'm serious, you know."

The two then exchanged countless ways of killing a person. They were very well-versed with their weapons and human pressure points, so the two felt right at home talking about ways of killing people.

"We can torture them, too…" Moon said, twitching a little bit as she looked out the window to the streets below.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Moon: All of my close family has been exiled to district fourteen. My parents, my sister, my brother, everyone. They didn't rebel or anything, but they kept on killing their games trainers. I don't have anyone to lose if I die, but I wouldn't care if I did; family just holds you down. You need to worry about what is most important.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Moon: Because I'm on a mission. I'm from district one, so I should be number one. I will feel like a let myself down if I lose. I want to win so I can represent my district and march through the streets and say, "Yeah, I won the 201st Annual Hunger Games."**

**Caesar: My, how charming!**

Two more careers dismounted the bus at the Capitol. As were Atlas and Moon, this pair was ready to win the Hunger Games, at any cost. They strutted past the onlookers who, of course, swarmed them with microphones. The male stopped first, turned to the female, and nodded. The two were very cooperative with the journalists flocking around the scene.

**DISTRICT 2 MALE**

**Name: Xion Macabre**

**Age: 29**

"Am I scared? No." Xion answered a journalist's question.

"Even a little? We saw Atlas, the district one male, get off the train a few minutes ago, and, well, he looked rather intimidating."

"Psh. You think that means he's competition? Just 'cause he looks intimidating? I'll tell you this: district two breeds winners. I don't care if Atlas is seven feet tall. You see these muscles? Yeah, well how would you like to fight with them? Huh? Wanna test it out?"

"No, sir…I merely—"

"Well then don't tell me that Atlas is hot stuff, because I don't care. Xion will be the champion of this little game. I mean, the Capitol could have at least picked real competitors! I mean, half the tributes are _old_. I'll be in the arena with Aunt Sally, and, no, I won't spare her just because she knitted me a bird sweater."

**Caesar: So Xion…you think you'll get emotionally attached to anyone?**

**Xion: Getting emotionally attached to someone is a sign of weakness. I have suppressed** **all emotion since I was seven years old. Ha!**

When Xion finished with the reporters, he made his way toward the building. He had a defiant swagger that seemed to insist he meant no business. However, for such a distant person, his walk and talk almost made it seem like he craved attention.

Many of the female passers-by _gave_ him this attention. He was tall, bronze, and exceptionally muscular. His hair was black and his head looked strong and stony. His hands, too, looked strong enough to rip a person apart in seconds.

**Caesar: Tell us your favorite memory.**

**Xion: Favorite memory? One time my older brother didn't think I'd have the guts to do something "bad", so I wired and triggered an explosive that went off when he opened the door to his bedroom! His whole room caught on fire! Sure he wound up in the hospital, but hey — what are siblings for? It was just really funny…**

**Caesar: Wow…**

Xion spent the majority of that night meditating and trying to suppress any kind of emotional feeling he could possibly have. But when he thought of his family, and how he might miss them, he simply thought of all the bad times he had with them. This just got him angry (so he punched a pillow for a while) and then finally settled down. His recollecting had him so angry at his parents and siblings that he knew he had successfully depleted any kind of melancholic memory that might have resurfaced.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Xion: My family? I have my parents and a brother and two sisters. **

**Caesar: Don't you miss them?**

**Xion: Of course I don't. I'm playing this game for myself, and I plan on winning. I don't miss anyone. I can't waste time remembering and worrying when I have twenty-seven people to kill. I don't mean to put it so bluntly, but I mean…yeah.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Xion: I made a bet with my siblings once that if I ever was in a Hunger Games, I would win. Winning that bet would get me a lot of gloating rights and would establish me as the strongest person in my immediate family.**

**Caesar: That's important…**

**DISTRICT 2 FEMALE**

**Name: Lilac Phios**

**Age: 30**

Lilac was in a heated argument with some of the reporters. "I can beat anyone in the arena, no doubt about that. I can stab people once in 235 ways and still get the same result."

"So Lilac, what's your strategy for the games, huh?"

"Kill."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Well, considering I could kill you in about two seconds right now…yeah, it's not too difficult."

The reporter gulped loudly. She scampered away and looked for another tribute with whom to talk. Lilac just laughed and the reporter's cowardice and turned toward the tribute building.

**Caesar: Lilac, will you beg for someone not to kill you?**

**Lilac: Beg? I don't beg. I am noble. If by chance someone has the strength or endurance to kill me, then so be it. I won't die crying like a little girl. But anyway, I don't think there will be a situation when I'm gonna be the one on the wrong end of the dagger.**

Lilac was of medium height and of blonde hair. Her hair was so blonde, actually, that it looked almost white, especially when the sun beat on it. Her face was typically expressionless, but her mind was always racing. Having been trained by one of the most gruesome and grotesque trainers to ever walk in the districts, Lilac always contemplated the best and easiest way to kill a person given her situation. It was like a little challenge for her, when she's bored. After all, what else is a person supposed to do when they're talking to someone they don't really want to talk to?

**Caesar: Pitchfork or bow and arrow?**

**Lilac: Pitchfork. I prefer close-range combat. Besides, it sounds more painful.**

Lilac and Xion humored each other by spending a portion of the night talking with each other.

"I don't think I struck a chord with those reporters this afternoon," Xion said, shrugging.

"I think you did. What you told them was honest. And besides, it shows…a little cockiness. I liked that." Lilac smiled and, for once, didn't contemplate the easiest way to kill the person with whom she was talking. She seemed rather at peace for those few moments.

Xion accepted her complement and nodded. He glanced around and, due to his typically antisocial nature, didn't say anything. He was at a loss for words. Lilac, too, shifted uncomfortably on her sofa and just stared at him in silence.

Xion then spoke. "The reporters said some 'Atlas' guy is all beefy. We may need to watch our backs."

"I thought you said you could beat him easily."

"I could," Xion admitted. "I was just letting you know…"

"Oh, well…thanks."

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Lilac: My parents are dead. They died under "mysterious circumstances". All I have left is a twin sister. I do miss her dearly, and I do hope that she supports me in these games. I want to come back a winner. **

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Lilac: To avenge my parents. I don't care what everyone says; I think they were murdered. So now, I have the drive to kill people. All I have to do is think that I'm driving my knife into the skin of a murderer and I will have no problem killing anyone. It's…too easy to imagine.**

**Caesar: That sounds rather…unsettling…**

The third district's tributes dismounted the train next. Both looked rather concerned and displeased. One couldn't tell if they were overconfident or simply scared. They both moved rather slowly, looking unexcited and unready. The male shuttered when he saw the large tribute building standing like an impending conscious just a football field away.

**DISTRICT 3 MALE**

**Name: Raz Golding**

**Age: 40**

When the reporters encircled Raz, he looked particularly uncomfortable. His face turned red and he found himself moving his messy black hair around to calm the tension. His hands, he noticed, couldn't stay still, either. One reporter asked, "So, Raz, how do you like the Capitol? Excited for the games?"

"I just wanna go home," he said.

"My, my…" the reported said unconcernedly, "this won't play well with the sponsors. Oh, no, it definitely won't!"

"I don't care about the sponsors…"

"But they are your key to survival!"

Raz looked unfazed. He just looked depressed and shrugged at what the reporter had said. He hated to admit it, but he didn't care about survival. At least not right then, he didn't.

"So you really don't care about winning the Hunger Games? You don't care about the honorable title you would hold if you were able to win? You don't care about the feeling of courage and—"

"I care about none of that. I do not wish to be here. I was not born a killer, nor have I ever wished to be a killer. Could you kill a person? Could you kill someone who's been injured and is lying next to you? What if they had a family? What if they had four kids who are all wondering why their mother or father has disappeared? Could you so easily plunge a knife into the heart of such a person? You disgust me."

The reporter looked rather taken aback. He muttered something to himself and then, when he tried to respond, couldn't find the words. He shifted awkwardly and after a few seconds said, "It's sad that you don't want to support your dear, dear country…"

**Caesar: Raz, what would be your "perfect kill".**

**Raz: My perfect kill? How can such an adjective describe such an unfortunate word? A perfect kill? Well, let's see here. After I kill someone whose eyes told me that they had a newborn baby and two small children, and whose unmoving body tells me that I have just taken away everything good in their life, I kill myself. Killing myself for such a crime would be the only noble way to handle myself.**

**Caesar: Oh…**

Raz spent that night looking through all of his scrapbooks that he had brought with him. He needed to remember what his family looked like, for in the arena, he'd be calling upon their faces for company until his untimely demise.

He shuttered at that thought. But surely it would arrive. He did not plan to kill in the arena, so how could he possibly win? He rubbed his head and thought hard about how he would spend his last few days alive.

**Caesar: Would you team yourself up with some careers if they asked you?**

**Raz: I suppose I would. However, I fear they would stab me in the back. I'd need to make sure I was safe. I can't die unknowingly or by someone who betrayed me. I must die how I want to die.**

Raz had a difficult time falling asleep. He found it hard to comprehend death. He found it especially difficult to comprehend the fact that he would never be able to see his loved ones again. He didn't sign up for this. He never wanted to do battle in an arena with twenty-seven other tributes. Even the careers he felt bad for. Sure there were some unsavory characters, he thought, (he was never a fan of Xion and Moon) but he still felt bad. They…were too easily tricked, he felt. They were, Raz thought, out of all twenty-eight tributes, the most gullible. They fell too easily into the Capitol's tricks.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Raz: I love my family. I love my family very much. I have a beautiful wife and two children. I don't understand why it's fair that all of these beautiful things should be taken away from me.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Raz: To see my family again. But if I have to kill someone to do it, I won't be able to live with myself. I am stuck, really, between my morals and my conscious. That's why this game is horrible. I would die for my family, but I couldn't ruin another family.**

**Caesar: How…interesting…**

**DISTRICT 3 FEMALE**

**Name: Spade Bex**

**Age: 32**

Spade hopped the train and looked around uneasily. Her heart was racing and her mind was flitting about with numerous thoughts. She moved her orange hair to the side and moved quietly to the reporters. He short stature made her difficult to see from afar. Given her other child-like physical features, one could have easily mistaken her for a child if her face looked a tad younger.

The look in her eyes was rather odd, as well. She looked as though she was always studying someone. She looked curious and squinted when she couldn't quite understand something. She was quiet on her feet, too. No doubt she would be a good scout or rogue.

"Spade, what's your game plan?" A reporter asked.

"Game plan? I will not reveal that now." She turned away and hurried off. She didn't want to talk to the reporters any more than Raz did. She followed by Raz's side like a lost puppy and tried to engage him in a discussion.

**Caesar: Spade, what kind of player are you?**

**Spade: I am like the wind. I am invisible and dangerous. I will not reveal what kind of player I am, but I will say that I am tougher than I look.**

Spade said to Raz, "So, shall we be a team? Shall we take on the competition, the two of us?"

"I do not wish to fight," Raz admitted.

Spade looked rather surprised, but remained mysterious as always. She shuttered (a little over-dramatically) and looked Raz in the eye. "Well then I guess I will hunt alone."

"Why do you say 'hunt'?"

Spade looked like she didn't want to answer his question, but then gave in and said, "Because…I am the predator and everyone else is the prey."

"Am I prey?"

She turned and moved her shoulders a little bit. She sighed and said, "We shall see…"

**Caesar: What would be the ideal arena?**

**Spade: One with a lot of trees. An arena must have trees. Trees are your protector and also your downfall. I have become one with nature, though. So I see no downfall in my future.**

Spade spent the rest of the night trying to make a phone call, but the people working in the tributes building seemed to have a problem with her making a call. "We can't let you do that. Not today, at least."

Spade looked disappointed. "Why not? I simply must."

"Honey, please…return to your room."

Spade was furious, but she didn't show it. She tilted her head to one side and stared at the receptionist as though she were going to pounce on her. Then she said, "I will leave. But remember, you should not anger nature. If you cut down a tree, lightning will strike."

The woman at the counter just gave her an odd little look as Spade rushed out of the room and to the elevator. On her way up, Spade began to let a few tears fall from her eyes. All she wanted to do was call someone very important to her, and that mean woman at the counter said no. Spade was angry; lightning was ready to strike.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Spade: My parents are both alive, but I don't see them very often. The only family member I really have in my life is my little brother. I love him so much, because he just…understands me. He understands my love for nature and he shares this love, too. We hunt together all the time and he really is my favorite person. I…I will miss him.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games.**

**Spade: For my brother, of course. And to show that nature is powerful. I want to win because I don't want to be underestimated and considered weak. I…I…I **_**must**_** win.**

**Caesar: Well, good luck to you!**

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**First six tributes there. Only 22 left! Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter and I hope you guys are already forming favorites and whatnot. Thanks for reading!**


	3. D4 - D6 Tributes

**Here is the next tribute chapter. After this almost half of the tributes have been revealed. I really like how this FF is shaping up, so I'm very eager to see how this turns out. I hope you guys like what you've been reading so far. Again, I'll put a poll up soon (of course I'd like to finish the tribute chapters first). Til then, I'll finish posting these...**

**Thanks for reading!**

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**Districts 4-6 Tributes**

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The district four tributes exited the train in a pair. The male was describing something to the female, who listened with much curiosity. They smiled at each other and laughed a little bit, then turned readily to the cameras and reporters bombarding them. The male turned away quickly and murmured something to the reporters. "We don't want to be interviewed. You need a statement? Write down that district four will win the Hunger Games this year, okay?" He then pushed past the reporters (after urging the female to follow) and led himself and the other tribute to the building.

**DISTRICT 4 MALE**

**Name: Stark Locar**

**Age: 29**

Stark hated the reporters. As ruthless and cutthroat and stereotypically career he was, he never felt he needed to state it in an interview. He wanted to be quiet and unexpected in the games: he didn't want to come off as cocky or rude. He just wanted to sound uninterested.

Stark was of medium height and impressive build. He had a very square jaw (that could've been a weapon in itself) and jet black hair. He was particularly good with blunt weapons that required only the strength of a powerful swing for effectiveness.

**Caesar: So Stark, do you think all the ladies will swoon over you and protect you in this competition?**

**Stark: Hmm? "Swoon?" Well, I wouldn't complain, but for their sakes I hope not. I'm not here to find a girlfriend, after all. I have one already, of course. I think it's Xion you have to watch out for. He's the one for the ladies…**

Stark was usually blunt with his statements and didn't particularly mind what people thought of him. If he needed to be sarcastic, he would. He found no fault in expressing his opinion and stating it outright. It was, in his opinion, his right. He had difficulty getting along with many people as a result, yet he still had a few close friends whom he cherished.

The female tribute was one of them. They had met years ago in district four. They were not in a relationship, but they were still good friends. It would be a shame, Stark thought, to have to lose such a friend. And if he died, he knew she would miss him dearly. He sighed.

**Caesar: Would you share your water with your allies?**

**Stark: Of course, because otherwise my allies would be more of a detriment than a help. If I had a limited water supply, we'd ration it out. But still, I'd need to share a LITTLE bit.**

He spent a large portion of that night spying on a few of the other tributes. Specifically, he looked at the other careers. Atlas and Xion, he knew, would be his biggest competition. And after hearing the things Moon could do with a knife, he knew he'd have to watch his back.

Atlas, in his mind, was smart; Xion was not. Xion, however, looked stronger and less merciful. But then again, Stark knew he, himself, was merciless. In the games, he needed to do what he needed to do in order to get back home to his family. Regardless of what was morally right, it was his duty to try his best and get back home to see another light of day.

Going to bed was no problem that night for Stark. He dreamed of the games. And right he was almost killed in battle by Xion, he woke up in a sweat. What a dream…what a dream.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Stark: I am an only child. My parents only wanted one child who could possibly represent them in the Hunger Games. I am that child, so for the honor of my family, I must win these games. In my house, these games will define whether I am a true, noble person, or a weak one who was not stronger than the districts one and two tributes.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Stark: Why? Because I want to prove my success to myself and to my family. I know that winning is what they want and expect, so losing is out of the question. If I lose, I will shame them.**

**Caesar: Sounds…unsavory…**

**DISTRICT 4 FEMALE**

**Name: Angel Maxim**

**Age: 22**

Angel followed Stark from the reporters to the tribute building. She didn't want to spend time talking. She didn't have anything against the reporters, but she wanted to spend much of that night preparing herself. This just wasn't a game; this was a true lifestyle. This was her passion. She had dreamed about being in the Hunger Games since she was a little girl. For that very reason, she had spend years studying the craft of bomb-building. She knew it would be a unique skill to have — so few have it — and that it would displace her from the others. This craft would push her to the final four, she hoped.

**Caesar: Would you rather be unbearably cold or unbearably hot?**

**Angel: Hot. It's a lot easier to die from the cold, I think. Besides, I don't sweat that much, so the heat doesn't really bother me.**

Angel had flowing golden hair that sat atop her beautifully polished face. She really was an angel. She hope her beauty would gain the respect of many other tributes (whom she planned to kill, of course). Angel's second biggest strength was that she was deceiving. She looked kind and gentle. Truly, she was brutal. She was twisted. She had a rather unexplained dislike toward people from other districts, as well.

"Angel, me and you to the finals?" Stark asked. "Alliance?"

"Yes, of course. You're my friend, Stark. I'd never betray you. I don't care what happens as long as someone from another district doesn't win. Especially district one or two. I hate them. Did you see Lilac? She thinks she's so cool just because she knows how to kill someone in more than one way."

Stark shrugged. "You only need one way."

"Exactly," Angel said, defending her bomb-making skills. "And Atlas thinks he's so smart. No one can be strong and smart…"

"…Thanks?" Stark just laughed them, for he knew she was just fuming. She always did that.

"You know I'm not talking about you. You have both. You're a miracle, Stark."

**Caesar: If you could say any one thing to any one tribute right now, what would it be?**

**Angel: I'd tell Lilac to back off. If she thinks she's so good then she has another thing coming. I know she doesn't like me…I can just tell. I've seen her in the training arena for some time now and she just doesn't like me. Well, I never liked her right from the start, so we're even.**

**Caesar: Hmm…so I guess there won't be an all-career alliance…**

"Me, you, and the district fourteen tributes. You know they'll be strong." Angel was looking for more alliance members.

"They're always…" Stark admitted. "I suppose you're right. We could take on the other four careers that way. I wonder…if they're gonna form an alliance? I mean…I guess it would be smart, but I don't know."

"Moon doesn't really like people…"

"I noticed that. She's…she's gonna wanna kill you. I know it." Stark seemed to be warning Angel. He wasn't sure who would win that battle…"She wants to prove she's the strongest woman."

"Ha!" Angel just laughed. "I'll blow her up."

Stark laughed too.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Angel: My family loves me and I love them. My parents tell me I'm the best person in the world, and the most beautiful at that. They even have my sisters convinced, too. They buy me anything because they know I deserve it. They say I truly am an angel. Ha ha…**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Angel: Well, you see, Mommy said she'd let me do anything I want. I mean, sure I don't live at home any more, but my parents still watch over me. They want to make sure I am perfect. And if I win…well, I'll be the most famous person ever to walk in district four! I'll make sure of that!**

**Caesar: Well, you have the drive…**

After the district four tributes arrived those from district five. These tributes seemed rather awkward, especially around each other, and didn't do much at all. The male was seen limping as soon as he got off the train, and the female looked very stressed out.

The district five tributes were, as the reporters put it, the "early to die" tributes. What a shame…

**DISTRICT 5 MALE**

**Name: Axem Jades**

**Age: 51**

For the Hunger Games, Axem was old, and he knew it. He knew there was no way he could compete with a twenty-five year old adonis. He had no prior training, as the other careers tributes had. No one else did. He was worried, but he wasn't going to give up. He still had that drive to fight and to survive. He was not bloodthirsty; he just liked life.

Axem moved painfully over to the crowd of reporters. One asked what was wrong with his leg.

"Every once in a while it goes numb. I have this…little problem, where I injured my leg. I can't do much running when it goes numb like this. It usually starts hurting and…unless I get pills I'm gonna have a hard time…"

Many reporters sounded thoroughly interested by the man's story. They knew he'd need a lot of sponsorships if he wanted to survive, for otherwise, his leg might have been his detriment. Axem sighed and then said to them, "Look, I don't really want to do much talking. I'm already…sad enough…"

**Caesar: Axem, what's your weapon of choice?**

**Axem: Well…I, well I haven't done much training for the Hunger Games. But I guess it would be the bow and arrow. I've done a little hunting in my time and…yeah. That would be it.**

Axem wasn't excited for the Hunger Games, but he was ready. He didn't want to die, and he hd family to get back home to. He planned to take the game strategically. As much as he didn't want to kill someone, and even though he knew he wouldn't necessarily go looking for someone to kill, he knew he'd have to deal damage eventually. On top of that, he knew he'd have to appeal to the masses to get the sponsorships he very much needed, so he tried his best to look like an interesting tribute.

He knew, however, that he didn't hold a candle to some of the other tributes. Axem was just slightly overweight and really had little training with many weapons. He also wasn't sure if he'd have the mental capacity to remain sane. On top of that, he had an injured leg, so his chances of survival were, in his eyes, small.

**Caesar: What was your favorite Hunger Games, and why?**

**Axem: I…well, I liked the…I think it was the "194****th**** Hunger Games". It was the one where the sponsors were more important than ever and the people in the Capitol held more power than usual. I like to see the people get some control.**

Axem wasn't really sure what his strategy was for the games. The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. He knew that how he was envisioning the games and how they really were would be rather different. He sighed that night and frowned in utter desperation. How was he to survive?

Was this game fair? How could he compete against those half his age and a foot taller than he was? On top of that, they were stronger and more appealing, and, for being careers tributes, already held a special place in the Capitol's heart. Axem thought about this the majority of that first night. Was it fair? Would his family understand if he were the first person killed? He hoped…he hoped they weren't expecting his survival.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Axem: I have a lovely wife, who I've been married to for over twenty-five years now. I have two children. They both have their own spouses and their own lives now, but we still keep in touch. I'm…well, I'm patiently waiting for grandchildren. I…that's all I ever wanted. I…I don't…I don't know what to say…**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Axem: To be able to tell my wife I love her again. And to see my kids again. And, of course, to be able to see my grandchildren be born. And then to see them grow up and…and to hopefully not have to participate in the Hunger Games. All I want is for my life back.**

**Caesar: That's…that's very sweet, Axem…**

**DISTRICT 5 FEMALE**

**Name: Fox Berry**

**Age: 39**

Fox was not excited and not ready. When she stepped off the bus, she began to weep. When she passed by the reporters, she murmured some incoherent words and rushed past. Everyone seemed disappointed by her lack of interest in the game.

Fox was tall and had red-brown hair. Despite her rather daunting physical appearance, she knew she was unable to hurt someone. She didn't know how. And on top of that, she felt very alone. She felt like there was no one in the word who could help her. Both of her parents were dead, and the one sister she did have refused to talk to her after a bout the two had years back.

She began to cry even more.

**Caesar: Fox, tell us your favorite memory.**

**Fox: Well…you see…well, my favorite memory? I guess…I guess that would be many, many years ago. When my parents were…still alive. And when my family loved each other. And when…I don't know, Caesar.**

Fox did not spend the night talking with the other district five tribute. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She…she hated the games. She wanted to leave and go home, but when she though of that, she realized that home was not that much better. With no family — loving family — to return to, Fox just sat, depressed, on her bedroom floor and weeped some more.

"This isn't fair…" she whispered to herself. That night, she used an entire box of Kleenex before she was finally able to fall asleep.

**Caesar: Why should you be sponsored?**

**Fox: Because…well, because I'm…Caesar, I really don't know. I guess it's because I'm not a career tribute. And career tributes always win, so…support me because of that…?**

That night Fox could not get to sleep. Usually after crying a lot she would be able to sleep, but she was just so scared. She didn't know what to do. Honestly, it was an overwhelming feeling. How was she to survive? She didn't know how she'd be able to survive until the games. She was just so scared, the thought of going into the arena gave her the chills. And until then, she just had to wait and to worry by herself. How…how would she last?

Now she was tired. With no sleep, she was absolutely miserable the next day. And with so much going on, she wanted nothing more than to just finish herself off right there. But…that would make her look like such a coward. She knew she could never escape participating in these games by her own hand. She resorted to weeping more.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Fox: I hardly have any. Anyone close, at least. Actually, both of my parents are dead, and my sister hates me. I…I don't really have anyone…**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Fox: I have no idea. I guess…because I don't want to die yet? And…maybe, just maybe…my sister will feel bad for me and stop hating me? I don't know, but maybe the Hunger Games will heal my life…**

**Caesar: Perhaps…**

The district six tributes both curiously stepped off the train. They were both confused and weren't particularly sure what to expect outside the train. They knew that the reporters would be there to flock around them (as they did every other year of the Hunger Games), and so they merely waited for the journalists to quiet down so they could answer their questions.

**DISTRICT 6 MALE**

**Name: Qax Qionis**

**Age: 34**

"Do I think I could win? Well, I hope so…" Qax sounded fairly confident for a non-career tribute. He didn't want to sound weak and didn't want to appear weak, either. So he didn't. He wasn't nearly as big or daunting as the career tributes were, but many people readily admitted that with a little time, Qax could easily be a career-quality tribute. That being said, Qax was an early favorite.

"Qax, what was it like hearing your name being called?"

"It was scary. It was terrible. I…I knew my family would feel so…so hurt. My parents, my wife, my daughter. I just felt like…I felt like for some reason I let them down. Even though I had no control over whose name would get selected, I just felt like…I let them down because I'd never be there to protect them. You see…I'm afraid of losing this. I'm afraid of leaving my family."

"Do you have the guts to kill someone?"

"For my family, yes. I don't like or want to kill, but my instinct for survival outweighs my morals. At this point, I feel as though careers are just robots, anyway. I've watched the Hunger Games before, and the careers are always so emotionless. Sometimes they hate everyone in the world. I feel so remorse for them."

**Caesar: Qax, would you kill the other district six tribute as though she were any other tribute?**

**Qax: No. If it got done to me and her, I think I would just let her kill me. I've…I've heard her story. I would never hurt her. I couldn't…I'd never…**

Qax spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to stay safe in the games. He knew his physical strength would help him, so he concluded that he'd likely be one of the last tributes to be standing. But still, he knew he couldn't be overconfident. He knew that he wanted nothing more than to return home and forget about his entire Hunger Games experience. He sighed.

He pushed a hand through his short brown hair and coughed loudly. He had a booming voice that added to the entire career-like tribute charade, and for this he was happy. The more intimidating he appeared, the fewer battles he'd have to partake in.

He was jumpy, too. He was typically worried about the future, so he constantly found himself steadying his limbs from shaking and jumping and twitching too often. He sighed and tried to think of his family to take away the all-present nerves.

**Caesar: What would be the ideal arena?**

**Qax: Well, I guess it would be one with a lot of hiding spaces. I mean, you can never have enough of those. It would…just make the whole game safer.**

Qax spent the night trying to sleep. At first he thought it difficult, but then, when he realized that twenty-seven other people (twenty-one if you ignored those careers) were in the same unfortunate situation. Although this reassured him, the thought was unsettling. It just…was terrible. Too many people were losing their lives, and too many families would be heartbroken not being able to see their loved ones again.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Qax: I have a beautiful wife and daughter. My sister is also an important part of my life; she lives next door, so I see her all the time. I'm…I'm very fortunate to be blessed with so many great people. I just…don't see why it all has to end like this. But, it won't! For…I will never give up.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Qax: Because I'd do anything to make it back home. I don't want my life to end yet. Who does? I think…that if I can win, I would be the perfect example of someone who overcame the Capitol's little game and could…well, maybe, do something about these horrible games.**

**Caesar: Good…reason.**

**DISTRICT 6 FEMALE**

**Name: Apple Lockey**

**Age: 59**

Apple was no more ready to participate in the games than she was to jog around her neighborhood. At 59, she just didn't have the stamina to win or play well in the games. Dismounting the train, she hurried past the journalists who were eager to talk with one of the oldest players in the game. Apple wasn't happy. She needed someone to talk to.

Apple had grayish hair and had small glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Without her glasses her sight would be a huge detriment. She knew at all costs she'd need to stay calm and ensure that she could survive. But…how? At that point, it was hopeless…

**Caesar: Apple, what is your opinion of the games.**

**Apple: Oh, Caesar, I just don't have the stamina to do this. And…well…I…oh, Caesar…**

Apple found Qax almost immediately. Not only was he an impressively hulking man, but she knew he was rather kind. She needed…she needed someone to confide in. She rushed to him as soon as he entered their room in the building.

"Apple…" he said to her, "this is terrible. Someone like you…the Capitol is crazy."

Apple teared up a little bit. "I…I will die. I know it."

"And…I know I will, too. But we must not think this way. Apple, you are a great person. Think of your greatness as your physical strength. Still, making a fifty-nine year old compete…that's just blasphemous."

"Oh, Qax…" Apple weeped a little bit into her hands. "I will die…"

"No!" Qax said, "I will assure you you won't! I…I will protect you, Apple. I will make sure no one touches you. Apple, to me you are like a great friend. I know we only met a few days ago, but I already feel connected to you. I just…feel so bad. You…I can't believe you are being forced to play the games."

"Qax…thank you. Thank you very much." Apple looked at the ground. "You, you remind me of someone, Qax…"

**Caesar: Spear or grenade?**

**Apple: I…I suppose…I suppose I would take the grenade. I…yes, the grenade.**

"You…you're just like my son. You look out for other people. You look out for me. Qax, I…I deeply appreciate it."

"Your son?"

"Yes…" Apple began to tear up again. "Qax…my son…he is dead. He…he was in the Hunger Games many years ago, when he was just fourteen years old. He…oh, _I saw it on TV!_" More tears. "He…right when he wasn't looking. Oh…in his back. It was a spear. One of the careers. The big, tough careers stabbed him in the back with a spear. It…went straight through him. It…" She exploded in tears and Qax felt like doing the same. The two weeped together for a few moments.

Qax said, "I promise I will protect you. I promise."

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Apple: I…have a husband. I…I love him so much. And…oh, that is all, Caesar. Please…**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Apple: For…for redemption. I…I need to avenge someone. I don't think I will win, but I will try my best. I don't care how old I am. If a career so much as touches my arm, I will not flee or cry. **

**Caesar: Wow, so there's a little fight in you?!**


	4. D7 - D9 Tributes

**Here is the new tributes chapter! To be completely honest, a lot of my favorite tributes come from this one. I hope everyone likes the story so far because the introduction of the tributes is more than half-way done (after you read this). I hope everyone is forming favorites/least favorites and whatnot. I'd love to hear what you think!**

**Anyway, please enjoy!**

* * *

**Districts 7-9 Tributes**

* * *

The district seven competitors stepped off the train next. The first was the male; he was short, plump, and was talkative. Although he seemed happy, all of the reporters could tell from afar that he was nervous. Perhaps his talkativeness was merely a mask to hide his true feelings?

The female was of average height and was particularly skinny. She had brown hair put into an over-the-top hair-due and wore entirely black clothes. Her eyeliner was dramatic and the rest of her makeup left her looking like some sort of pale vampire. The people of the Capitol admired her as though she were some sort of animal.

**DISTRICT 7 MALE**

**Name: Ricco Hallow**

**Age: 45**

Ricco was jittery and talkative as her maneuvered over to the reporters. They looked eager to talk to him (he looked like he had something to say, after all). Ricco laughed at something he said and then acknowledged the reporters in front of him.

"Ricco, what's your favorite weapon?"

"Ricco, are you scared of the games?"

"Who are you gonna ally with?"

"Do you think all your talking will be your downfall?"

For whatever reason, the last question was the one Ricco chose to answer. "My talking? How could talking be a downfall? To me, it sounds like a good thing! I mean, everyone else is always so depressed and solemn. Maybe talking is the way to catch everybody off guard. People just don't talk around here…"

The reporter accepted his answer, but then asked. "And what if you're trying to hide? What if you're trying to hide from a career? You surely wouldn't want to talk so much that you give yourself away…"

Ricco admitted the reporter was correct and laughed. "Heh, well, I guess I better watch my mouth, then!"

**Caesar: Ricco, what's going to be your biggest strength?**

**Ricco: Biggest strength? Hopefully my allies. I mean, if I team up with someone, I really don't think they would betray me. At least not until, say, we were the final two. Then maybe, but I don't think I'm that unlikable of a guy.**

Ricco spent the early afternoon trying to convince the lady at the desk to let him make a phone call. He seemed rather persistent, and on more than one occasion practically pleaded for the woman to cooperate. She seemed rather annoyed by his ramblings and rejected his using the phone. No one was allowed to make any calls.

"But, say…what if I said it's important?" Ricco looked rather serious. "What if I said it's a life and death situation?"

"I'm sorry, sir. No means no." She turned back down to her papers on her desk, only to find herself lifting her head back up again to follow this man's continual begging.

"But, ma'am…I mean, this isn't just—"

"Please, sir! I can't let you call…"

"But—"

"No!"

**Caesar: What's your weapon of choice?**

**Ricco: My weapon? My mouth! Ha! No, just kidding. Well, let's see…I suppose I would choose poison, because it's not dirty and it wouldn't require that I be there to see the person die. Poison is definitely the kindest way to kill someone. Still though…it's just so…cruel.**

That night, Ricco took a large portion of his time to study some of the past Hunger Games. He really didn't want to watch those horrible things (and watching someone die always made him grab the sofa and cringe), but he knew that this game was about survival. More than anything, he knew that he could not lose this game. He didn't want to kill, but he wanted to get home. He wanted…he wanted to be there…for someone special.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Ricco: Well, in my immediate family is only my wife. My…my children. Both of them…died at a young age. But my wife…she was always so full of life. She was…she always kept my spirits up no matter how sad I might be. But then…one day, thanks to a reckless driver on the road, she was hit and has been paralyzed since. I…I love her with all my heart…and I can't leave her back at district seven with no one. I need to be there…**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Ricco: For my wife. That's the only other reason. For my wife, Caesar.**

**Caesar: How…touching…**

**DISTRICT 7 FEMALE**

**Name: Vyxsin Esher**

**Age: 23**

Vyxsin was particularly fond of Ricco. She had never really been the kind of person who liked…other people, but since the first time she met him, she really enjoyed his company.

When the reporters flocked around Ricco, she took that time to quickly escape. She rushed off to the building where the tributes were located and found her room. She really didn't want to make some sort of public statement, especially considering how emotional a ride this whole thing had been.

She spent a lot of that day wondering how she was going to kill someone. Even though she looked like the person who had just enough crazy in their eye to kill without their conscious watching over them, Vyxsin feared the games more than most of the other tributes. She reveled in her friendships and, even though she really didn't like to talk to most people, it did not mean she wanted to bring about someone's death.

**Caesar: Vyxsin, tell us something about yourself that would surprise us.**

**Vyxsin: Well, I'm not really much of a people-person, but…I really do like the nice people. I…it just takes me a while to get to know someone, you know? Most people think I'm weird, so most people turn away from me. But…I really am not some crazy psychopath…**

Vyxsin didn't want to spend one of the saddest nights of her life alone, however. So, for a few minutes, at least, she went to find Ricco, and found him in the midst of watching some old Hunger Games videos. "That looks…unsavory."

"Tell me about it! I mean, look at that! Those kids…those careers…they don't even care about killing other people! It's sick! It really is!" Ricco was flailing his arms about in all directions to make everything seem very dramatic. And besides, he just naturally made many, many hand motions.

Vyxsin winced. "I really hate this. We gotta…we gotta stick together in there. I really don't want to die alone, Ricco. Please…" She looked sad and unhappy and scared. She fixed her hair a little bit (it looked so crazy!) and sighed.

**Caesar: Bomb or saw?**

**Vyxsin: Bomb. I mean, saw? That sounds terrible. I can't believe that's even an option. If there's anyone who would rather use a saw than a bomb, that person is just plain stupid. Saw?**

When Vyxsin wasn't talking to Ricco she was thinking about her little sister. Vyxsin knew that he sister would be watching and couldn't bare the thought of leaving her alone in the world. She was great friends with her sister and shuddered at the mental image of her. Vyxsin shivered. "Why…why does it have to be like this?"

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Vyxsin: Both of my parents will be watching. They never really supported me all that much, but I still do love them. Even if they don't really love me back. And I have a little sister; I miss her so, so much…**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Vyxsin: I'm sick of always being last. I don't want just anyone to win this thing; I want it to be me. I…I really don't want one of the careers to win this. They…they don't even care about their families…**

The district eight tributes emerged from the train next. They seemed highly compatible and although they had no past relationship, they immediately became great friends ever since the day of the reapings. The two walked next to each other and decided to answer the reporters' questions together.

**DISTRICT 8 MALE**

**Name: Cloud McKnight**

**Age: 37**

"Cloud, how do you think you will do in the games?"

Cloud answered almost immediately. "I hope I do well. I don't want to be cocky, but I think I'm in the right mindset for this game. I'm not a brutal person at all, but I want to win. I don't want to give the careers the upper hand so I will dedicate my entire experience to ensuring the careers don't win."

"Wow, that's quite a story."

"He's noble," the female interrupted. "And he's smart. He's not a chicken, but he's not a jerk."

The reporters seemed to be thoroughly interested in these two. They seemed to have a unique drive that pushed only those two. Both of them looked fit and ready to fight, yet neither was cocky or bloodthirsty. They simply wanted to right the wrong known as the Hunger Games.

"It's just that there are a lot of good people in these games," Cloud said. "The careers are overpowered. I mean, I want to give everyone a chance. With six careers plus the district fourteen tributes, this game will be very much in favor of one of those eight players. We wish to see to it that none of them win."

"And why, exactly, do you hate the careers so much?"

"Because," the female answered, "they have no hearts."

"No hearts," Cloud repeated.

The reporters got even more interested in the pair.

**Caesar: Cloud, would you rather be unbearably cold or unbearably hot?**

**Cloud: Hot. I can't take the cold. I mean, it's just…not ideal. Your muscles are slow-moving and you feel much more pain when you're cold. Sure being stifling is uncomfortable, but at least you won't freeze yourself to death.**

Cloud looked confident. His stood as tall as he could and let all of the reporters see his face. He had no regrets and merely wanted to prove a point to the Capitol. He was a little overexcited about his plan, however. Killing all of the careers would not be an easy task.

"So are you two gonna be all partnered up?" the reporters continued.

Cloud nodded and said, "Yes, we both have the same mission. We want to see this end fairly."

"Cloud's a little more headstrong than I am, but I agree with what he said: we both have the same mission. I want nothing more than to see this game go fairly. Please, now…we wish to go to the building."

"Thank you for your time."

**Caesar: If a career were bleeding out and asked you to help him, what would you do?**

**Cloud: That is a tough question. A lot of this would depend on my mental state at the time. I mean, it's much easier to think that you could kill someone than it is to actually do it. I don't know what killing is like…so, I don't know. I suppose I would neither kill nor help; if they are wounded, they pose no threat. If, however, I have a personal quarrel with said person, then yes…I think I would probably kill him.**

Cloud trained much that night. He mentally trained and physically trained. He was not as big as the careers were, but he saw to it not to let their size and strength get in his way. He knew his heart was bigger than all of theirs combined.

And besides, he knew he'd have a fantastic ally, who was trained in sword-fighting. He seemed happy to know that perhaps this game would turn out favorably.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Cloud: I have two sons. I want to return home to them dearly. I have instilled in them the same kind of nobility I try to live by. I…I want them to be good people. I know they will be. Even if I die, I hope they know that my death was not in vain; I hope they know that I loved them and that I wanted nothing more than for them to be happy.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games.**

**Cloud: Two reasons, Caesar. For one, I'd like to return home to my sons and my wife. Also, I'd like to be the person who tried to play the game fairly. I do not wish to see the weaker players eliminated early.**

**Caesar: Quite the martyr, huh?**

**DISTRICT 8 FEMALE**

**Name: Terra Celeantra**

**Age: 38**

Terra had dirty-blonde hair and had shining, blue eyes. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders and looked like a beautiful cascade of blonde and brown. She voice sounded enchanting and her entire presence was very majestic. The strange, alluring control she held over people was…odd.

Like Cloud, Terra had vowed to protect the weaker players of the game. She was there to fight and be a leader. She was not ready to watch the careers, once again, take control of the game and pick off poor mothers and fathers one by one. Terra made a pact that she would do anything to ensure the game ran smoothly.

**Caesar: What would be the ideal arena?**

**Terra: A dark one. I prefer to wield my sword in the dark. Even though it makes it more difficult to see opponents, I find sword-fighting easy at night. I just kind of…know where the other person is. So even if they are cloaked by night, I just know where they are.**

Cloud and Terra were talking about the game. She said, "Cloud, you must be careful. I know you have a lot of animosity toward the careers, but remember: they are strong. And they will probably hunt in packs. Please, please, be careful."

Cloud said, "I will, Terra. And besides, I have you. You are great with that sword!" He paused and looked around. "But, you know what I realized?"

"What?"

"This game is really fixed. I mean, all of the careers are young. Would it have killed the Capitol to nominate a sixty year old person from district one? Someone who isn't extremely fit, good-looking, and great at literally everything? That's exactly why I know this game is entirely pre-determined. At least the careers are."

"I see what you're saying," Terra admitted. "The Capitol loves their careers."

"Yes they do," Cloud said and nodded. "I hate it."

**Caesar: Terra, tell me about your strategy.**

**Terra: Well, I won't reveal much. But I will say that I am on a mission. I won't put anything in front of this mission, even my own survival. I want to see that this game works as it should.**

That night Terra found it particularly easy to fall asleep. She meditated and thus found herself dreaming within the first ten minutes of lying down. In her sleep she dreamt of the next day. She dreamt of training and getting a training score. She hoped she'd score a 12, but, in her dream, she scored a 5. She was disappointed, but what disappointed her more was that Cloud scored the same as she did. And then…they wouldn't get any sponsorships. She woke up the following morning thinking deeply about this dream.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Terra: I am not married, nor do I have any children. I only have a brother and a mother. My father died long ago, so it really is only the three of us. My brother and I share a good friendship, but neither of us sees our mom anymore. Ever since dad died, we have only served as a reminder for the times she was happy. For whatever reason, my brother and I have always been blamed for his death. She always thought that our different way of looking at things drove him to his grave. She…she is crazy.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Terra: I want to make my point, of course. Also…I just want to bring some acknowledgement to district eight. You know, district eight has a particularly bad record for Hunger Games winners. Not as bad as twelve and thirteen, but we are still very low on the totem pole.**

**Caesar: Valid point.**

The ninth district's male and female stepped off the train next. The two seemed friendly enough and both chatted idly in each others' ears. Neither seemed too interested in talking to the reporters, but the female stopped and humored them. The male tried to sneak past them before they noticed his presence.

**DISTRICT 9 MALE**

**Name: Rave Klipper**

**Age: 57**

Rave passed by the reporters and made his way to the tribute building. He needed to unwind after the whirlwind of events that had struck him over the past few days. He went from being a hard-working man to being likely prey in his government's little game. Rave sighed and took out a picture of his wife from his suitcase. He admired this picture and immediately positioned it on his bedside table.

For the games, Rave knew he stood no chance. He didn't want to admit it (so he tried to act tough and ready), but his age would be his hinderance. Then again, he had the will to survive. He wasn't ready for death, so he would try his hardest to live.

**Caesar: Rave, do you think your age will be a problem in the Hunger Games?**

**Rave: I know I'm one of the oldest players. I'm not trying to hide that fact. And my district nine partner is even older than I am, but that doesn't mean we're going to give up. We are smart and we both are determined to live. So yes, I think it will be a problem. But no, I don't plan on letting that problem get too much in my way. I plan on surviving, Caesar.**

Rave had black hair and was rather short. He wasn't very plump, yet he wasn't very fit, either. He knew he'd get tired easily (as his breathing was always bad), so he didn't look forward to any extensive chases. The one thing he could do was wield a knife, though. Having grown up in the "bad" part of district nine, Rave was taught by his parents the art of knife-fighting. This would surely protect him.

Unfortunately, Rave knew the careers and probably most of the other tributes had vaster knowledge when it came to weapons. His little knife, he knew, would not hold up well against a career's bow and arrow or a strong person's axe.

**Caesar: Why should you be sponsored?**

**Rave: Well, I'm old. Everyone's gotta root for the old guy, right? I mean…I could wield a knife pretty well, so I hope to get a pretty good score on my training. Other than that, I hope…I hope people feel compassionate.**

Rave kissed the picture of his wife and made a promise to her: "I promise not to die. For your sake, I know that you would want me to live as long as I can. Although I eagerly look forward to reuniting with you, I don't think that time is now. I love you, and I know you love me. I will fight for you and I will win this whole thing for you."

Rave went to bed that night with his promise lingering in his mind. Would he really be able to win? Wasn't he fooling himself and his wife just a little too much? Or, perhaps, would the careers all kill each other off without noticing him make a grand escape? Maybe…just maybe.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Rave: I have a daughter who is twenty-two. I also still have my mother, who I love dearly and who I visit almost daily. We live close, anyway. My wife…my wife passed. But I know she's watching me. I know she's looking down and cheering for me. I know…she's thinking the right thing.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Rave: Well, you see, I want to come home alive for my daughter. And my mother, too. She needs me these days, so I can't afford to die. And my wife, of course. I…I want to see her again, but dying because of the Hunger Games is not the way I want it to happen. I love her and I want her to be proud of me.**

**Caesar: Rave, that's…nice…**

**DISTRICT 9 FEMALE**

**Name: Hope Pearl**

**Age: 65**

"I don't know if I'll win the Hunger Games, but I will try. Oh, dear me…" Hope melancholically looked around and sighed. She seemed unhappy and to be pondering something. Her mind was elsewhere, everyone acknowledged.

"Hope," one of the reporters asked, "are you gonna team up with all the other…older people and form a rebellion against the careers?"

Hope looked startled. "Oh, well…" she stopped. She really didn't know what to say. The thought of playing the game was on the back burner in her mind. She sighed and finally said, "I guess so. I mean, I guess I would like to do that." She stopped talking. A tear fell from her eye.

**Caesar: Hope, tell us your favorite memory?**

**Hope: My favorite memory? Well, that would have to be when my children were born. That was a **_**long**_** time ago. But…if you're looking for something more recent, then I guess it would be when my grandson was born.**

Hope and Rave had a friendly relationship. Neither was too talkative and ultimately neither wanted to be where they were. The whole game was genuinely frowned upon by the two of them, and Hope always seemed eager about something. She constantly fumbled with her pink hat and her wild, gray hair. "Dear me, Rave. I must say…this game is dreadful."

Rave agreed. Then he said, "I don't even know how to survive…"

Hope seemed to be thinking about something else. "Survival is of utmost importance…"

"Hope, you seem…absent-minded."

Hope snapped out of it. She shook her head a couple of times and then looked back at Rave. Through her tears and unexpected sobbing she said, "Rave…will I ever see my grandson again? Rave, please…please tell me."

Rave looked dumbfounded. "Umm…well, I hope so. Hope, you must—"

"I am so scared. And…and, I just miss him so much. When I left…when I left to go to these dreadful games he had contracted and illness and was stuck in bed. He didn't even have the energy to walk. How…how can I live with myself if I never get to see him again? I…will never get to see him healthy again. I…I hate this…"

Rave looked sad and guilty. As much as he, himself, wanted to make it home alive, he almost wanted to sacrifice himself just so Hope's odds were more in her favor.

**Caesar: What's your weapon of choice?**

**Hope: My mind. I don't use physical weapons. I use only intelligence and intuition. Physical weapons are just so…dreadful.**

Hope couldn't sleep that night. She just wanted to crawl into a corner and die. The thoughts of her children and her grandson came fleeting in and out of her mind. It was like torture. She wanted nothing more than to get back home, yet the closer she got to the games, the further she got from her family. And…with her "inevitable" death just around the corner, Hope felt hopeless. This depressed her.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Hope: I have four children. Only my oldest daughter has a grandchild: my grandson. I love everyone in my family. My husband is great to me and my two sisters are the kindest women in the world. Caesar, why must these great people be taken away from me?**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Hope: My family needs me. More importantly, I need them. Caesar, I want to see everyone I love again. This isn't fair…this really isn't.**

**Caesar: Calm down, Hope…**


	5. D10 - D12 Tributes

**Here's the second to last tribute chapter! This one has some interesting characters...**

**Anyway, there are only four more tributes left to introduce (after this chapter). I hope you guys are forming your favorites and whatnot because a poll will soon be up in my profile as to who your favorite tribute is. For now, here are the tributes for districts 10-12. **

**Please read and review. Thanks. ;)**

* * *

**Districts 10-12 Tributes**

* * *

The tenth district's tributes stepped off the train, confident and very ready to participate in the upcoming games. The male didn't smile, and when the female did, the smile looked fake. The two approached the reporters side by side, ready to talk. Neither seemed fazed by anything around them.

**DISTRICT 10 MALE**

**Name: Torque Detrix**

**Age: 27**

"Torque, what's your strategy for the games?"

"My strategy is sound and rock-solid. It cannot be penetrated. Sapphire and I will join the careers. After all, we are worthy of being careers. We have trained for this for very long now and I am eager to get killing." Torque did not smile or laugh or try to show emotion.

The reporters couldn't quite tell if this was the real Torque or not. District ten tributes typically weren't careers and historically were never known to win many Hunger Games. For this reason, the reporters found it difficult to determine if the real Torque was so confident and such a jerk. "You've been training?"

"Yes," Torque said. "In my district we started training our tributes. I was one of those to be trained. So is my partner." He pointed at his companion. "The two of us both attended the same training classes. We know each other rather well."

"Are you…in a relationship?"

"No."

**Caesar: Wooden bat or dagger?**

**Torque: Wooden bat. I have the muscles of a career so I might as well use them. And besides, a dagger is a technical weapon. Those aren't my forte.**

From a young age the only thing Torque knew was the Hunger Games. He had participated in training events throughout the latter years of his life and was ready for anything the arena could possibly throw at him. Moreover, he was excited for the games, but did not show it.

Over the years he had spent many practices simply watching videos of how the careers worked and operated. He was determine to come across as one and would do anything to be part of their alliance. The latest district ten tributes were bred with a career-like attitude. He tried his best to replicate this attitude.

And, at least for the looks, he did. He was strong and well-built and was one of the tallest tributes in those games. He had light brown hair and did his best to keep his square-shaped face emotionless. His lower half, including his legs and his calves, though, was not nearly as well-built. But in the end, he assumed strong arms would outweigh his need to have strong legs.

**Caesar: Would you beg someone not to kill you?**

**Torque: Beg someone? I don't beg. People will be begging to me, maybe. But no, I don't "beg". People in district ten don't beg, so I won't either.**

That night Torque did considerable strength training. He practiced using his weapons and took much time lifting weights and doing any last-minute body fitness he deemed required before the following day. He cared more than almost anything about the training score he would receive in two days. The only thing he cared more about his training score was his performance in the games and how well he convinced the audience he was worthy of being a career.

He took out a binder from his room closet and looked at the pictures he had bound inside it. Inside were four separate pictures, each of a different person. The first was a man who looked particularly dreadful. Beneath this picture were the words "killed with injection". Torque smiled. Then he looked at the next picture: "killed by sickle". He smiled more. He felt powerful. The third picture: "killed with knife". He flinched a little bit but still looked particularly enthralled. The fourth picture: "killed by wolf".

Indeed, these were the four pictures of men Torque had killed. All were criminals sentenced to death and used in the severest of his Hunger Games practice simulations. The first three men had all been killed by Torque, and he had a particular fondness for murder. The last was his favorite. In his arena simulation were wolves. The fourth man, whose death Torque nearly worshipped, had been mauled by the wolf Torque literally fed him too. It was gruesome.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Torque: My mother was sent to district fourteen long ago. My father and sister both remain in district ten and train harder than ever for these games. We had a serious family bonding; training for these games is what we all love to do.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Torque: For my district and for myself. And for the careers. I plan to befriend all of the careers. I don't want to betray them, but only one victor can there be. It will be me, so I will want to win for them. To win for the sake of keeping the careers alive.**

**Caesar: Quite a reason.**

**DISTRICT 10 FEMALE**

**Name: Sapphire Raven**

**Age: 32**

The female walked aside of Torque and shared his confidence. Having been his training partner for many a year, Sapphire felt utterly powerful and important next to him. She smiled faintly at the cameras and assured that she would win, no matter what the cost.

"Are you and Torque planning on allying?"

"Of course!" Sapphire just laughed in the questioners face. She turned to Torque and put her hand on his shoulder. "We'll work together and we'll hunt together. Everything we do will be expert quality. Those careers will be shocked."

"Do you think you could best Lilac or Moon in a fight?"

"Best them? I could _kill _those two! Honestly! I mean, Lilac looks too pretty-pretty to fight rough, and Moon just looks so…unintelligent. I mean, those two need to see what real strength is!"

**Caesar: Tell us your favorite memory.**

**Sapphire: Alright. Well, I guess it would have to be my sister's tenth birthday. At the age of ten district ten begins training their children for the Hunger Games. Sure it's later than most careers, but whatever. Anyway, my sister and I are tight, so I loved teaching her how to kill people and use weapons and everything.**

There was two major differences between Sapphire and Torque: Torque strived to be a career, while Sapphire strived to best the careers. She held no emotional attachment to the careers as Torque did, so, unlike him, she would have absolutely no problem murdering a career. Strategically, though, she agreed with Torque. The more careers they teamed up with, the easier the game would be.

The other difference was that Sapphire was not much of a fighter. She tried to be, and she got a similar rush as Torque did when she felt powerful, but her fighting and weaponry skills were lacking. She had trained for years and could still not throw a knife very straight. Likewise, her angle of injection of a spear could potentially leave the target wounded but not killed, and her sword fighting and arrow-slinging skills were decent, at best.

**Caesar: Will you be working more with your mental strength or with your physical strength?**

**Sapphire: Physical. I mean, I'm strong and I have a lot to prove. I don't need to work things out in my mind before I shoot someone. I just need to do it. My mind in this game is not important.**

Sapphire and Torque spent that night talking. They were planning. "Torque, I will need your help during the games."

"Of course." He nodded.

"No, I mean. I really will need help surviving."

"Sapphire, I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"But—"

"But I will protect you. I will make sure no one touches you. No one from the tenth district deserves to die. Sapphire, I will provide a safe passage to the finals. But, you must do as I say. Do not betray the careers unless I explicitly give you the orders to attack."

Sapphire just nodded. She let her red hair swing down in front of her face. Her make-up was messy and her eyes looked like black holes given the amount of make-up she always applied. She looked rather disgusted and constantly twisted her face to show this disgust.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Sapphire: Both of my parents are dead. You see, my father was in a Hunger Games many years ago. My mother…well, that's a different story. I have a sister and a brother. My sister I love, while my brother moved away from us as soon as he could. He called me a "curse".**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Sapphire: For my sister. And to avenge my father. I…I don't know who killed my father, because I never had the strength to watch the video, but…I don't care. I will make sure he has not died in vain. I will make sure that his oldest daughter is a winner and a true champion.**

**Caesar: That's very nice.**

The eleventh district's tributes emerged at different times. The male emerged first. He looked rather stoic and awkward and rather nervous. Yet, he seemed to have a cool air about him that made it seem like he knew exactly what was going on. The female emerged later; she stumbled out onto the pavement complaining about something. She didn't converse with her male partner, nor did she seem to care much about the situation at all. Instead, she stood complaining and whining about nothing in particular.

**DISTRICT 11 MALE**

**Name: Watch Zayonia**

**Age: 44**

Watch skipped by the reporters by explaining that, "I have to run to my room now. I…I can't talk. I wish not to accidentally let my words escape to quickly and reveal my strategies. I…I cannot take such a gamble. Instead, I shall spent my time considering and altering my strategy to make it effective."

Watch disappeared as the crowd stood standing and mumbling nearby. And with his partner not yet off the train, the reporters didn't have much to do. Instead, they merely made comments about Watch as he disappeared.

"He was weird."

"Too quiet."

"Not strong enough."

**Caesar: Watch, what was your favorite Hunger Games, and why?**

**Watch: My favorite Hunger Games were the 112****th**** Hunger Games. That year the scientist from district five won. It was rather impressive the way he manipulated his enemies' bomb to backfire and blow up their entire base. He was rather remarkable.**

That night watch did not talk to anyone. Instead, he wanted to remain calm and relaxed. He didn't do much preparing, for he felt that over-preparation would be dangerous and possibly counter-productive, given the games were approaching quickly.

As a result, he chose to play a game of chess. He played by himself and had spent more time playing that single game than he had ever spent playing a game of chess before.

He really thought about the game. Even though he was his own opponent's mind, he really tried to consider what exactly it was like to be the opponent. He tried to read his opponent. Not his own mind, but the mind of a different person. The mind of someone who he knew he'd have to defeat. This contemplation troubled him that night. Being a mathematician and "genius" (as his friends called him), Watch was surprised with his inability to wrap his brain around the mind of a nonexistent opponent. This worried him. If this was the case, how would the Hunger Games go?

**Caesar: Watch, what kind of player are you?**

**Watch: I…well, I am an intellectual one. That is all I can tell you. I will not reveal any strategies. I have a plan, a master plan. No one can know about this plan, not even you. Caesar, I plan to use my brains and not my strength to win this game.**

After his game of chess Watch thought about his children. His son was as brilliant as he was and his young daughter he hoped would be too. Ultimately, Watch knew he would need to win these games for them. He always taught his children that strength of mind was equally (actually more) important than strength of body. He was not particularly well-built, and didn't typically exercise on a daily basis, but he was of a normal weight. Also, he thought he might be able to run quickly if the time called for it.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Watch: I have a lovely wife and two children. Both of them are probably watching me right now, and I just want to tell them that I love them very much. And that although many of the tributes are bigger than I am, I don't want them to count me out. I hope that I can strategize with my mind and not with my arms for this.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Watch: For my family. And for my friends. The people who I care about. My friends have been so supportive that I really don't want to let them down. And…I really, really, don't want to die. Especially at the hand of a career.**

**Caesar: Very well put, Mr. Zayonia.**

**DISTRICT 11 FEMALE**

**Name: Cilla Omala**

**Age: 30**

Cilla stepped off the train in a huff. First, she had been drug from her daily life in district eleven to participate in these awful games. Then, the food she ordered on the train was cold. Finally, she accidentally (somehow) lost her handbag on the train, and the train engineer insisted she must leave the train before it departed. As much as she begged to stay on to continue looking for her bag, she was not allowed. This pushed her over the edge.

And on top of that, her district eleven partner wasn't even _cute_…

Really, if she was going to have to play in the Hunger Games, the least she could ask for was a decent looking partner. Instead, she was paired up with the "weirdo" who could only talk about strategizing and figuring out how to outsmart the other players. She grew tired of this quickly (for, in the games, she planned to rely solely on her above-average sword fighting skills).

**Caesar: So Cilla, we hear that you can use a sword. How do you think your skills will match up with Terra's?**

**Cilla: Terra? I don't even know her. She's probably that bimbo who keeps talking about nature. I don't care. I don't know. I just…I dunno. I mean, my sword fighting skills are amazing, Caesar. We'll just have to wait and see.**

Cilla spent a large portion that afternoon talking to the reporters. It never seemed to grow old.

"Tell us about yourself."

Cilla shrugged. "I know what I want. And you know what? I'm disappointed. All the men I've seen so far are ugly! I mean, seriously. I don't care, though. Because if I can win these games then I will be able to make it back home. And then…ugh, I don't know."

"It seems like you don't know a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean? Ugh. This whole thing is stupid."

"Cilla, are you mentally prepared for this game?"

"No. I don't know. I mean, I have a feeling I'm going to die, so…I'm going crazy. And everything is not turning out in my favor. It's like the world is out to get me or something."

**Caesar: Cilla, will you kill the district one male as though he were any other tribute?**

**Cilla: Sure, why not? Everyone's trying to kill me, so…I don't see why I wouldn't want to kill him.**

Since Cilla didn't talk to Watch and night, and since she was too angry to talk to any of the other tributes, she simply spent the night in front of her mirror combing her hair. She had long, almost white hair that flowed far down past her shoulders. Although typically adorned with sunglasses, her eyes at that point were revealing. They were a dark, dark brown that almost looked black. When she was angry, these eyes looked piercing. When she wasn't, her eyes still looked like darkness.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Cilla: I have a two year old son. My husband and I are divorced but we still get along, surprisingly. He's always there to support me. Even though he would always complain about me, I still think he really misses me. But I don't care; he divorced me, so I don't want him. **

**Caesar: Anyone else worth mentioning?**

**Cilla: No. No siblings. I'm an only child. The "perfect child". My parents are still alive too but since I left home we haven't talked very much. They were always so distant, anyway.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Cilla: Well I don't know, so my son has his mom? Besides, I'm only thirty. I got a lotta time left and I don't want to spend it dead. This whole game is just stupid but I'm not gonna be a coward. I'll be strong…**

**Caesar: I bid you good luck…**

The district twelve tributes emerged from the train soon after. The two were completely different, on both ends of the spectrum. The male was more than twenty years younger and was wearing all black. He seemed unhappy and utterly disappointed by something. The female, although not happy to be in the games, exhibited a welcoming personality that was coupled with her flowery dress. She looked calm and collected and friendly.

**DISTRICT 12 MALE**

**Name: Jape Phisher**

**Age: 32**

The reporters flocked around Jape quickly. One held a microphone up to the tribute and asked, "So, Jape. Are you excited for the games?"

"Not particularly. I will admit they are unique, but I am not excited. I will try my hardest and I do hope I do well, but I know I will lose. I mean, I can't possibly win the Hunger Games. Think about it. There are six careers and both tributes from district fourteen. You have experts at hunting and sword fighting and gun shooting. You have people who have been training. You have athletes and heavy weightlifters. I stand no chance. My odds of winning are poor, there is no doubt about that."

**Caesar: Jape, what's going to be your biggest strength.**

**Jape: None, really. I mean, I suppose I'm rather fast, but speed does not outweigh the impressive skills of a trained killer. Besides, the few weaponry skills I do possess are novice in comparison to any of the careers. For that matter, any of the tributes at all.**

Jape spent a lot of the night in his bedroom. Bored, he stared at his ceiling. He continued to think about how he was going to die. Betrayal? Simple bow and arrow? Or perhaps…something a little more dangerous? He shrugged at the thought. He was not nervous, for he had already accepted his imminent death.

Out of his dark blue eyes Jape squinted at the lines in the ceiling. Nothing, he felt, mattered at that moment. Not his life or anyone else's. He sighed and began wondering who was going to win the Hunger Games. Maybe the career from district one? Hmm…

He ran a hand through his black hair. It remained rather sleek, however, despite his habit of constantly pushing his hair around out of boredom.

**Caesar: Would you rather be unbearably cold or unbearably hot?**

**Jape: Unbearably cold. I like the cold. The cold…it speaks. It speaks of death and decay and everything horrible. It fits perfectly for this game…this depressing, dark, and hateful game.**

Jape remembered a lot of his dreams. That night he dreamt of something rather unexpected. He dreamt of home. He didn't dream of his family or even of himself, but of district twelve. His dream was like a panorama. It walked throughout the streets and pathways of the district and took him to places he didn't even know existed. Then again, he might have just been making them up.

But still, it was like his dream was telling him something. Dreams, he knew, were foretelling. Typically he dreamt of death (like that of his parents, whom he no longer had the honor of knowing). That night, though, he knew his dream meant something. Maybe it was telling him he would make it back home? Or…maybe it was a reminder? A reminder of what his home was like before he'd never be able to see it again…

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Jape: Well, both of my parents are dead. My sister has been transferred to another district and I hear from her only every once in awhile. My grandfather I work with, however. He no longer does much, because he is too old, but he still tries to be active. I work in the mines as part of his small, small company. We are neighbors and I'd like nothing more than to return home to see him again.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Jape: I guess so…so that I don't have to leave my grandfather. It's a shame my parents had to die so early. He loved both of them. He can't lose me, too. He would be left with no one.**

**DISTRICT 12 FEMALE**

**Name: Thea Maple**

**Age: 53**

Thea approached the reporters with a smile on her face. It was the best thing for her to do; she was not truly happy, but this smile almost made her think she was. With that, she began speaking to the reporters after being asked her question. "Well, you see, I really am not a competitive person. I think competition is for those who don't have the power to say they are not the best. I…I just don't like this sport."

"And what do you think of your fellow tribute? Jape?"

"I think he is a fine young man. He seems to have some…self esteem problems, though. I do hope he can straighten himself out. An old woman like me will have a tough time winning the games, but someone like him can definitely win. I…I believe it."

**Caesar: Thea, what is your weapon of choice?**

**Thea: Caesar, you know someone like me could never want to use a weapon. But, if I had to choose, I suppose I would select poison. It's so much less personal, you see.**

Thea was rather short. She had gained a considerable amount of weight over the past few years, yet she vowed to keep the reason for such a drastic weight change an absolute secret. Likewise, she was always giddy. Even during the games, which she resented, she tried to keep a happy face on. Coupled with her scraggly brown hair, Thea looked like a very fun and friendly person. She had a warm smile and a soft, gentle voice. Her hands shook a little bit (from age, people assumed), but other than that she appeared to be rather healthy.

**Caesar: Why should you be sponsored?**

**Thea: I shouldn't. My chances of winning are slim. If anything, all sponsorships should go to Jape. He is young and has a full life to live. I don't want to take that away from him. He is likable, too. I hope everyone sponsors Jape because I think he is a unique person. He's not a big macho man like the normal winner is. So please, everyone, change your way of thinking and vote for the underdog.**

Thea and Jape engaged in a conversation at the former's request. She took Jape by the hand to their large living area and told him to sit himself down. When he did, she said, "Jape, you must believe in yourself. I mean, you should not count yourself out so quickly."

"But Thea, I stand no chance. Think logically. The careers have been training for this their whole lives. I have never. Besides, I'm short and not even well-built." He sighed and turned his head away. "I have no chance. We must accept that and move on."

"I don't think we must."

Jape sighed. "Only once you accept death will you be ready for it."

"But, Jape—"

"Please, I have already accepted this. I know I stand no chance. I genuinely appreciate your care for me, but I simply cannot convince myself that I can win."

"In that case, I shall protect you," Thea said. "These games should not take away someone's spirit. The spirit is a part of someone's soul. And these games — horrible as they may be — do not have that power. As a human being you have the right to enjoy the prospect of impossibilities. And Jape, I am here to tell you that your winning is not an impossibility."

"But—"

"No buts, Jape. I am here for you. I am your guardian angel."

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Thea: I only have my friends, really. My husband…you see, he died shortly after our marriage. We…we never had the chance to have children.**

**Caesar: You could have remarried.**

**Thea: No I couldn't. I didn't have the heart.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Thea: Because life is not a thing to be wasted on such a game. Something as precious as life should not be placed at such a pointless risk.**

**Caesar: I see your point…**


	6. D13 - D14 Tributes

**This is the final tributes chapter. The last four tributes are introduced here, and in the next chapter the training will begin. Soon the entire game will begin. I hope you guys are excited for the conclusion of the tributes and I hope you continue reading to find out what happens! Thanks!**

* * *

**Districts 13 & 14 Tributes**

* * *

The thirteenth district's tribute departed the train second to last. The two seemed rather different in personality and ultimately didn't seem to talk much with the other. The male looked unfazed, but not cocky. He also did not look too nervous or excited. Ultimately, he seemed to blend well with the crown. It was as though he was not in the situation he was.

**DISTRICT 13 MALE**

**Name: Feyot Jasperite**

**Age: 35**

Feyot approached the reporters with ease. He didn't feel as though they were encroaching on his life.

"Tell us about what you think of the Capitol!"

Feyot shrugged his shoulders. He didn't act too impressed, yet he tried not to act unimpressed. "It's how I'd imagine it. I mean, it's high tech, beautiful, and has a lot of crazy-looking characters. But I like that." He smiled warmly and coughed into his hand. He laughed a little at himself, too.

"Are you prepared for the games?"

"Prepared? Of course! I have an iron-clad strategy that should hopefully help me win. You know, I don't tell a lot of people this, but hey: I got my mind under control."

"Oh…" the reporter said. He turned awkwardly away. He wasn't really sure how to respond.

**Caesar: What would be your weapon of choice?**

**Feyot: My weapon? My weapon is silence. For I will not answer that question. If I answer it, I will reveal important information about my play style. So instead, I will say this: I know what I'm supposed to do.**

Feyot was tapping his fingers along the sides of his waist as he entered the tribute building. He saw many people there — other tributes included — and nodded happily at them. He stalked across the room with a sense of confidence that many of the yellow-bellied competitors longed for. What made people gape even more was that Feyot was no powerhouse. If anything, judging by his appearance, which consisted of retro-looking spectacles and a short stature, most people would have thought him the coward of the group. Indeed, they were surprised.

**Caesar: Why should you be sponsored?**

**Feyot: Because only with the sponsors' help can I win. I mean, I have a foolproof strategy, but that doesn't mean I'm invincible, or anything. If I'm dying of some kind of venom or poison, the sponsors will be my only hope. So, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to graciously invite the sponsors to join team Feyot Jasperite.**

Feyot watched old videos of past Hunger Games that night. Most important, he was looking out for something specific. He noted and jotted down the arena type of every year and tried to formulate some sort of pattern. Perhaps, he thought, he'd be able to successfully deduce the type of arena the Capitol was going to throw at them.

He noticed that snow-related arenas typically reappeared only ten to fifteen years; three years ago, there was a snow arena. Similar, there was a nine in ten chance that a forest would encompass the majority of the arena. He assumed, given the statistics, that the arena would be a forest.

**Caesar: Tell us about you family.**

**Feyot: I'm married, but I have no kids. Neither my wife nor I want children; we do not want to see them die a terrible death due to these Hunger Games. My sisters are all at home now watching and waiting for my return. I hope to return to my wife and sisters, and I know they hope the same. Caesar, I hope you bid me good luck. I cannot leave my family like this. How would you feel, having to leave everyone you love just because your government is making you?**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Feyot: I just told you. My wife and sisters need me.**

**Caesar: Any other reason?**

**Feyot: Caesar, no.**

**Caesar: Very well.**

**DISTRICT 13 FEMALE**

**Name: Katz Wisp**

**Age: 38**

The female from district thirteen dismounted the train next. She was wearing a lot of clothing despite the stifling heat. As soon as she got off the train, she pulled off her sun hat and let out a tired moan. Cooped up on the train for days, Katz wanted nothing more than to stretch her legs in the open air of the Capitol.

"Katz, you seem to have a very…extraordinary presence. Are you…"

"Yes," she replied quickly. "I am indeed the daughter of the richest man in all of district thirteen. Hence, I am wearing some of my treasured garb today. But—oh!—the heat is just so sweltering! Little did I know the Capitol sees much more sun than li'l district thirteen does!"

"Do you think this…extreme change in atmosphere will affect your playing style?"

"Ha! I am known to adapt! I am a chameleon." Katz looked impressed with herself and said, "My, I would fit right in with all the rich folks around here. I…the Capitol is lovely. I wish to see some of the grand estates while I am here. If I have time, I'd like to take a sort of mini vacation to the Capitol's most luxurious spots."

"And…what about the game?" the reporter asked, a little confused.

"The games? Oh, those dreadful things can wait! I…I have no desire to participate in those games, ma'am. I wish to explore. I wish to be free. The games are like a prison for people who deserve life and liberty and all that."

**Caesar: Katz, tell us something about yourself that would surprise us.**

**Katz: My father's net worth exceeds eight digits. Let us say that. For that reason I come to you the second richest girl in all of district thirteen. You would think, though, that for my father's amazing achievements, the Capitol would show a little respect and move us from that sad, dreary district.**

Katz was talking with Feyot as she fanned herself. Both of them looked bored. "So what is your strategy?" Feyot asked Katz.

"Strategy? Well, let us say I am not nearly as useless as I appear. I do have fighting skills, let me tell you. I will not tell you with which weapon, but I will say that I can kill a person."

"Do you fear…killing a person?"

"Hmm? No, of course not. Unless they have an extreme value to this world, a person should see no shame in death. Thus, killing a person will be easy for me."

"Really?"

"Enough of this interview!" Katz said huffily. "I am not here to be questioned. I simply wanted to chat. Now, if you are too prudent to be able to engage in idle chit-chat with a lovely lady, then I shall return your questioning. What is your strategy?"

Feyot shrugged. "I…well, it is a secret."

"A secret?"

"You kept your weaponry skills a secret from me." Feyot pointed out.

"At least I told you I had them," Katz defended.

**Caesar: What would be the ideal arena?**

**Katz: One with much shade, so I don't get terribly burnt. Also, one with a wading pool would be nice. A scummy, unattractive pond simply will not fit the bill.**

"So you're not going to tell me, hmm?" Katz twirled her excessively blonde hair around in her finger. With her hair coupled with her pale skin, Katz looked like some sort of angelic aristocrat. The combination was odd, nonetheless, yet her features spoke both prestige and beauty.

"I would never," Feyot said determinedly. "I will not reveal that to anyone."

Katz stood up, annoyed. Her domineering height was absolutely astonishing. "Well then I will not be speaking to you." She walked off in a huff. She returned to her room and fell asleep almost immediately.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Katz: My family is rich. My parents live in a lovely estate that is—of course—the largest in our district. Also, I have an exceedingly rich sister, and a grandparent who mooches off of my parents' money.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Katz: So I can live my life and go to parties. And so I can return home to my money and my good fortune. Mayhap I sound a little conceited, but if I have so much money, why wouldn't I want to spend it?**

**Caesar: Katz, you are a true character.**

The fourteenth district's tributes arrived last. The two looked incredibly tough and incredibly rude. This, however, was to be expected. People in district fourteen were supposed to look and act like that. The fourteen district, which was introduced to the Captiol exactly twenty five years ago, housed all of the misfits of society. Those sent to prison for heinous crimes were sent to that district, as were those with severe psychiatric help. All rebels of society, too, were shipped off the district fourteen to spend the rest of their lives in rundown, shoddy houses that were not truly suitable for humans.

Thus, district fourteen typically bred some of the most dangerous and outcast members of society. The even more shocking truth was that all district fourteen tributes, as required by law, were to be those in prison. The Capitol deemed to smart—and riveting—to include only those punished for absurd crimes. The district fourteen tributes were no doubt some of the most feared tributes in the arena.

Surprising, however, was that the fourteenth districts tributes—in all of the past twenty-five years, at that—had never won a Hunger Games. Thus, the fourteenth district was the only district to never win a Hunger Games, and, therefore, its tributes were more than ready to end the supposed "curse" district fourteen had on its contestants.

The male stepped off the train first. He had tattoos covering nearly every inch of his exposed body and muscles the size of boulders. Some of the reporters in the crown murmured and whispered nervously when they saw this hulking wonder step off the train.

**DISTRICT 14 MALE**

**Name: Fetch Zimmer**

**Age: 28**

Fetch moved over to the crowd of reporters at a surprisingly slow pace. He did not merely walk, though. He swaggered. He let the feeling of fear sink in to every single person on the street before he reached the reporters.

"Hello, Fetch," one of the daring reporters said. "Will you tell us all about your opinion of the Capitol?"

"It's better than prison," he said gruffly.

"Oh ho!" One reporter laughed. "We're sure it is!"

Fetch just glared at the reporter and lifted his fist ever so slightly. Of course, he did not plan of attacking any of the reporters. He merely planned to scare them all out of their wits. And he did just that. For the rest of the day, Fetch was not interviewed by anyone.

**Caesar: Fetch, how will your experience in prison help you get through the Hunger Games?**

**Fetch: Well, for one, I'm not going to wimp out of anything. If I can't get a drink? So what. I'm not a wuss. I can survive. All the other tributes are all gonna be little babies when we get into the arena. But not me. And besides, I've been strength training for—let's see—pretty much my whole life. I'm pretty sure even the careers look like little girls in comparison.**

Fetch spent the night doing nearly nothing. He ate a lot of food and stared down a lot of people, but he talked to very few. His stony face and his bulging muscles made everyone flee the scene as soon as they looked at him. Additionally, his tattoos, all of which depicted death in some sort of manner, were not exactly inviting. Even his asphalt-black hair looked like a bed of spikes that was just waiting to kill someone.

**Caesar: What is you weapon of choice?**

**Fetch: Anything with a blade. I can throw and I can wield. I have no fears. I am unstoppable.**

Fetch had been sent to prison the day he turned twenty. He and some of his friends—all rebels—were on a hunt for some Peacekeepers in their district, district five. The Peacekeepers, Fetch thought at the time, were being particularly unfair to the citizens of the district, and so took this issue into his own hands. With his friends in tow, Fetch assorted a march on the Peacekeepers main facility in district five. There, a several hour long battle ensued that consisted of much blood and violence. The rebels had armed themselves with any weapons they had from back home—guns, grenades, and the like—and attacked the Peacekeeper's thought-to-be impermeable fortress. Only two of the rebels survived, but the Peacekeepers had suffered a severe decline in their population: all of them in the fortress had died. They were then strung up onto the tallest tower of their facility and hung for all of district five to see. Fetch was then a free man no more.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**Fetch: After I went to prison I haven't spoken to my family. I don't really care. My parents never loved me or my other siblings, and my siblings all hated each other. Caesar, I don't care an owl's hoot for my family.**

**Caesar: Other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**Fetch: So my prison sentence is shortened. It's true: that's what happens if a district fourteen tribute wins the games. And besides, my district looks pathetic what with its no wins, so I guess I gotta support all my friends there and win this stupid thing.**

**Caesar: Shortened prison sentence? Who wouldn't want that?**

**DISTRICT 14 FEMALE**

**Name: September Realer**

**Age: 30**

The final tribute stepped off the train. Like the male tribute, she walked slowly from her spot to the reporters. She, however, was not swaggering. She was limping. She drug she left leg a little bit behind her right one. Each time she took a step, she winced, but swallowed the pain and continued on. She, too, had countless tattoos up and down her arms, and even had what looked like a little family tree tattooed on her left arm. She was scarred in countless areas and had messy black hair to complete the ensemble.

When a reporter asked her what it was like to be outside of prison, she merely scowled. She turned from him, her hands shaking, and walked slowly toward the tribute center. Everyone was scared of her. Her walk, which made some scraping noise every time she took a step, was eerie. Also, her eyes were so dark they nearly engulfed her pupils, making her look like some sort of night creature that wanted nothing more than to kill a person.

**Caesar: September, how will your experience in prison help you get through the Hunger Games?**

**September: I will kill everyone. That's how. I know how to kill. I knew how to kill before going to prison. I am ruthless. I will cut you up so badly you will look like a pile of disjointed flesh.**

September had, from eighteen years of age, been in prison. Although the entirely of her family had disappeared under "mysterious circumstances", everyone knew the truth. September's father worked with machinery, so when he was spat out of a spinning metal splicer in ruins, no one suspected a thing. September's mother always took her daily walk along the levee near the water, so when she was found floating in the water with a broken ankle, everyone pointed at the uneven terrain and large rocks as the culprit behind her fall. When September's brother was packaged inside the refrigerator of his psychopathic girlfriend, no one asked questions. And when September's little sister, a depressed and life-hating girl, showed up dead in the kitchen with a knife peacefully in her stomach, everyone assumed she had finally lost it. Over the course of many investigations and the surprising survival of the last member of the family, the police put the oversimplified two plus two together and understood without any difficulty that September was merely a psychotic killer.

**Caesar: Do you think you will get attached to anyone emotionally?**

**September: I don't get attached to anything. If I didn't fear death so much I would have killed myself twelve years ago. I don't love anyone.**

When September was getting ready for bed that night, she could not help but reexamine her wounded leg. Touching the wound made her wince just a little bit, and doing so brought the hatred and fury back into her soul. The wound was a stab wound she had received many years ago. Since then, it was the plague and curse that she felt was there to remind her of the deeds she had done. So to get back at life for this plague, she tattooed the latest portion of her family tree on her wrist, to remember her of not the crimes she had committed, but the valorous endeavors she had undergone.

**Caesar: Tell us about your family.**

**September: My father is terribly disfigured. He is so disfigured I imagine he is hurting even in death. My mother, you see, has a broken ankle. Poor dear. She didn't have time to feel the pain, at least. My brother…where to begin? If his head weren't screwed onto his neck, he'd leave it somewhere. Ha! And my sister…my sweet little sister. It really was a shame she was such a coward. How could one kill herself without saying good-bye to her big sister, first? She always thought of herself…and only herself.**

**Caesar: Wow, September. That's…quite a story.**

**September: Yes, Caesar. Yes it is.**

**Caesar: And…other than for survival, why do you want to win the 201st Annual Hunger Games?**

**September: I don't wish to die. I want to live without those I hate. If I die, I will be tormented forever by those I have murdered.**


	7. Training: Day 1

**Here's Day 1 of training. Next chapter will be day 2 and after that will be the scores. Anyway, the actual game is only a few chapters away, so I hope you're all excited for that!**

**MidnightHunter1221: INDEED! I'm glad you noticed! District 10 is taking a very alternate route this year when it comes to the Hunger Games. As you have seen and will see much more, the district 10 tributes, especially Torque, are going to strive to be like the careers. They are a little colder and more selfish than typically district 10 tributes, but I kind of wanted to change up the game a little bit and throw in a few OOC tributes. Thanks for the review!**

* * *

**Training Day 1**

* * *

**Spade Bex (District 3 Female)**

Black. That was all that was around Spade. The training center had been remodeled to convey the color of utmost depression and anguish: black. _This color is haunting_, she thought. _Nothing like the forest._ Indeed, the training center existed merely to teach, and not to recreate the surroundings of the upcoming arena. Or did it? Perhaps the new, remodeled training arena was a sign that the arena itself would have a black theme? This concept boggled Spade as the the training commander, Flux, was going over the routine of the two training days ahead.

This was nothing that concerned Spade, however. She was not interested in learning how to build a bomb or throw a grenade the perfect distance. She wanted only to shoot her bow and build some traps. She did not have time to hear Flux's rant.

"So if any of you have any questions," Flux reminded, "ask me." He gave each of the tributes an unsettling look. The man, who looked like a tribute, himself, turned away from the group to leave them be. "Remember, you have two days of training. After the second day you will put on a performance for the game maker's and receive a score." He had reminded them countless times how important this score was. Spade ignored him, though, for she did not need sponsors. At least, that was how she saw it.

She glanced uneasily at her district three partner, Raz, to see what he was doing. Of course, she didn't expect him to be doing much, but she hoped for his sake he would grow out of his "I refuse to fight" attitude and try his best to survive. She went over to him. "Raz, I can teach you…how to be like the wind. I can teach you to climb a tree. I—"

"Spade, please," Raz said, shrugging. "I don't wish to learn. I don't wish to do anything at all. Leave me be." And so she did. Spade sighed and began to think. _Oh dear brother, I wonder what you are doing now?_ She left the group of tributes and went to look for something to do. She figured if she'd be climbing trees, one of the smartest things she could do was study the poisonous plants and animals book. This would prove vital, she knew.

Spade ignored any passers-by along the way and got to studying. Once, Atlas approached her and tried to prod her for some information (most likely to discover her weakness, she figured), but she shooed him away. She did not wish to talk. She would only talk to Raz, the one person she felt she could trust. And…if she went crazy enough, she might spend a little bit of time thinking about and mentally talking to her brother. How she missed him…

Turning on to a page full of poisonous and rare animals, Spade glanced around uninterestedly. She saw a few people—careers, it seemed—talking in a group. Remembering who she met during tribute orientation, Spade realized these tributes were Stark, Angel, and Fetch. _All powerful tributes_.

Spade examined her book a little closer. It was important that she did not get distracted, yet it was just so easy when she was doing something that utterly bored her. She didn't want to study, nor did she want to practice things she wasn't good at. She wanted to gain experience by training how she wanted.

She reached a page full of birds. She liked birds, so she took a closer look. Red birds and blue birds and multicolored birds and pretty much every single bird she knew filled the pages. There were a few genetically created birds, as well: there was a Zinger, a black and orange bird that flew so fast it could seriously hurt its target; a Welch, an all grey bird known for the venomous fluid it could expel when feeling threatened; and a Maw, a bird with a particularly dangerous bite capable of shredding things apart. Spade shuddered and turned away; these birds were crazy!

"You know," someone, a male, from behind her said, "you can only study if you actually look at the book." Indeed, Spade realized she had turned herself away from the book for a few minutes to let her mind wander. And besides, she hated seeing the kinds of things the Capitol could create; they were dangerous and simply a disgrace to nature lovers.

The person talking to Spade looked familiar. She knew she had seen him, yet she had not spoken a word to him before. "You're…Jape?" she asked curiously. She could only deduce by the overly-sullen expression on his face that this was the unhappy Jape.

"Yeah," he said. "Mind if I take a look at that? I figure I am capable of reading a book." He sighed and moved toward her and the book.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't do anything in this place. I can't knife-fight or use a bow or a scythe. What am I to do?" He didn't seem particularly disheartened that he had to resort to reading a book. She almost felt bad for him. At least she could hunt with a bow and arrow and build traps. "I reckon you share the same skills? Nothing at all?"

Spade swallowed hard. "Umm…yeah. Nothing at all," she lied. She handed him the book and turned away in a hurry. Jape figured she hated talking to him, so his self esteem merely sunk to an even lower state. Of course, he really didn't care all that much.

**Cloud McKnight (District 8 Male)**

Cloud was trying his hand at the bow and arrow. He had never used one before, but he figured that if he wanted to kill all the careers, he'd need to learn how to use one, and fast. His main skill was sword fighting (as was his district partner's), but he realized he couldn't be so one dimensional. He pulled back the bow and tried his hardest to concentrate. Seventy-five feet away stood what seemed like a small target. Cloud released the bow and the arrow flew down quickly. Its trajectory was off by quite a bit, and instead of hitting the target, the arrow hit the floor eight feet in front of the target. Cloud sighed.

"That was a poor display of marksmanship," Cilla pointed out. She was trying to get under his skin.

Cloud said, "Well, why don't you try it out, then?" He showed her his bow and arrow and offered them to her. She turned away disgustedly, wanting no part in the unattractive sport of archery.

"Take that away, Cloud." She shrugged. "Where's my hat?" She realized she had misplaced her hat and went searching for it, leaving Cloud alone. He laughed a little bit to himself. _She is so scatterbrained. She also lacks intelligence._

Cloud missed the target twice more. He grew frustrated. How would he be able to kill all the careers if he couldn't even handle a bow? He felt defeated.

Cloud looked around the room. He saw the friendly lady Thea, for whom he felt bad; he saw Axem, who seemed utterly too old to participate in these games; he saw Feyot, who didn't have the strength to beat out a career in fisticuffs; and he saw his own district tribute, Terra, who was a great friend. Then he looked at the healthy and strong careers, who scared even him.

Before he was lost too much in thought, Terra came over to him and said, "What did Cilla want?" She was interested in forming a potential alliance with some of the non-career tributes.

"Just to mock me." He sighed. He even felt bad for Cilla. She was simple-minded, but she didn't deserve to die. No one did. His anger for the careers only rose. "Terra, I can't get this stupid bow and arrow thing down."

He looked so flustered that Terra wanted to help him out. But instead, she said, "Don't worry about it. Try something else. You don't need to be good at everything…"

"But what if I do?" He asked. "What if…what if this is the only weapon I get?"

Terra shrugged. "I will protect you. And besides, you have great strength, Cloud. You could beat up a career easily." She knew this wasn't true (although, it was closer to the truth than had she said it to pretty much any of the non-career tributes), but she said it anyway. Cloud needed her guidance.

"You know," Cloud realized. "What if we formed a kind of rebellion? Against the careers? What if we rounded up everyone except for the six careers and two district fourteen people and had a war? That might work. And…you and I could lead this rebellion."

Terra said, "True, true." Then she sighed. "But, too many people will die…under our command. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I told a person to join our alliance, only to have them die helping us." She sighed. Sure everyone but one would die by the end, but the thought of forming an alliance that couldn't survive was not good in her opinion.

"Indeed. You are right. We are to protect the people. We should not form any alliances. We will simple be the guardian angels." His plan, he thought, would work. If he didn't befriend anyone, then there would be no attachment to that person. He would simply act as a martyr who was on a mission. He hoped this plan would work, yet he still feared for the people who would fall to the careers…

**Rave Klipper (District 9 Male)**

Rave was doing battle with a trainer at the knife-fighting station. His knife-fighting skills were, as he knew, his best, so he was going to do anything to hone in those skills even more and potentially put up an overly impressive tribute score. Sadly, he was getting tired. Given his age and his naturally stilted breathing, Rave was barely able to keep up with the trainer for a minute before panting and gasping for breath. If he were getting chased, he didn't know _what _he'd do.

"That's enough," Rave said quickly to the trainer. Rave bent over, coughing a little bit, and tried to gasp for his much-needed air.

"You should stand straight," the trainer said. "You don't want to cut off your oxygen like that. Hold your hands over you head." Rave complied and winced as he stood up. He walked away from the station and looked for something else to do. Many of the other stations were already occupied, and several of the ones that weren't didn't look particularly appealing.

Instead of testing his physical strength, Rave took what he thought was a more appropriate route given someone of his age. With his half-decent fighting skills, he knew he'd need to seek out an ally. His district partner, Hope, would have served as a great teammate had she been more positive and less worried about her family. Rave found her too depressing and, although he knew he would defend her to the death, he really did not want to become so emotionally attached to her, for if he managed to win the Hunger Games, he did not want to go back to district nine and explain to her grandson how she had died.

So, Rave chose to look for someone with brains. He knew fighters would be important, but unless he managed to convince a career to team up with him, any fighter he managed to recruit would probably die. There was only one person Rave knew who could outsmart any of them there: Watch. And so, he went looking for him.

Rave, unsurprised, found Watch reading several books. Although Rave wasn't too interested in what they had to say, he was happy his possibly future alliance partner was reading up about survival in the wilderness.

"Hey," Rave said awkwardly. "Watch, we should talk?"

Watch regarded him immediately and stood up from his seat. Sensing this was going to be a private conversation, he moved away from any nearby tributes and then asked, "What is it?"

"I was thinking." Rave looked unsure. "I have some fighting skills. Not many, but some. You have brains. I say, why not team up and take on the competition? I mean, wouldn't it be hard to survive only with brains? Or only with fighting skills? That's why—"

"I see," Watch said quickly. "However, what 'fighting skills' do you have? I am not trying to say I don't trust you, but…" he sighed. "I want you to try and sell me. Why should I join your alliance?"

"For one, I'm willing to team up with you. I'm sure no one else has asked. Second, I grew up in a dangerous part of district nine and so learned the art of knife-fighting. Really, Watch, do you think someone like a career is going to ask to team up with you? I'm the best hope you've got."

Watch considered his reasoning. He shrugged and murmured something, and then said, "I see what you mean. To be honest, I wanted an alliance. And besides, I've never been the kind of person to leave someone dangling, so…yes, I will surely team up with you. I trust you, Rave." He sounded so very sincere. "I really do trust you."

Rave said, "Great. And…you don't have to worry. I would never betray you. We're all in this game together. I don't see you as an enemy. Really, I don't even see the careers as enemies. The _Capitol_ is the real enemy."

Watch respected this comment and responded, "We should consider strategies. Come, let us walk and talk."

**Sapphire Raven (District 10 Female)**

The girl stood with a knife in her hand and one eye closed. She eyed up the target, lifted the arm in which the knife was resting, and lurched her arm forward, releasing the knife. The knife flew quickly and, after a few seconds, landed. It rested several feet away from the target. Angry, Sapphire grunted. She had always hated knife-throwing. It was one of the many fighting skills she lacked. Again, she flung the knife erratically and missed. She screeched over-dramatically.

Hearing his friend's outburst, Torque rushed over to Sapphire and saw what was wrong. Seeing her fail like this only made him particularly worried. If he and his partner were supposed to be careers, they would need to put up quite a score. With Sapphire's latest performance, he knew they would only be frowned upon by the sponsors. "Sapphire, you've thrown a knife probably more times than anyone I know. Why…why is it so difficult for you?"

Sapphire shrugged. "I dunno. I…Torque, you know I can't fight all too well. I mean, I can't use any of these stupid weapons…" He hurled yet another knife. It landed closer, yet it was still not a throw worthy of killing someone.

"Here, you need to balance yourself."

"I got it, Torque."

"No, you're off balance."

Sapphire gave up. She looked pleadingly at her friend and said, "Torque, I'm scared. I…I can't do this. You…you must protect me. Please, please protect me." A tear began falling from her bands of heavy make-up, and she sat down to rest herself.

Torque said, "Sapphire, I know you've been struggling with these weapons. But…I know something your better at than anyone else. Please," he said, "listen to me."

"My fighting? Is that what your talking about? Like…"

"Your martial arts."

"You can't even call them that."

That was true. When Sapphire engaged in a fistfight, she was crazy. Although she had no wrestling or punching or kicking skills whatsoever, her crazy attitude made her hand-to-hand combat all the better. She was no trained fighter; she had never liked the fist-fighting class she took as a young girl. But, she made up her own moves. She was ruthless and crazy and, if there was a chair or something nearby, one could bet she was going to use it. Her fighting skills were so erratic and unpredictable that even the most trained of fighters found it surprisingly challenging to fight her.

"You can beat someone to a pulp," Torque admitted. "I've seen you do it."

Sapphire shrugged. "I guess I can." She looked up at her friend. "But still, we need to team up. We must support each other."

"You know I'd support you." Torque smiled. The thought of killing other people and proving himself a career just made him even more excited. "Now, I must get back to training. You should ask some of the careers for a potential alliance. Don't forget to mention my name. I'll do the same. Perhaps we could fit in with the careers after all."

After Torque disappeared, Sapphire thought, _I don't want to be like a career. I want to be better than a career. Torque, why do you aspire to be one of them? You should kill them, not team up with them._

**Apple Lockey (District 6 Female)**

Apple watched from afar as Atlas expertly hurled a spear across the room and into a dummy's heart. She winced. She didn't know why she was putting herself through this kind of mental torture, but she felt that watching spear-throwing only made her stronger. And it made her angry. This anger, she knew, would only serve as the fuel for her potential victory. She needed to win this for her son. No career was going to take the win away from her.

When Atlas threw yet another spear, Apple had to turn her head. She couldn't watch anymore. She couldn't recreate her son's death in her mind any longer. At first she thought watching Atlas would only give her a better connection to her son, but now she realized she did not have to relive his death. She needed only to use the strength she knew he was giving her and win this game. Without another thought, Apple turned and examined some of the dangerous looking weapons lined up along the walls.

She picked up the dagger. She had no professional experience, but she figured all those years of cutting up vegetables ought to have given her some kind of skill. She twirled the dagger lazily in her hands and tried to thrust it. She tried again, but faster. She tried again and accidentally threw the dagger forward. She picked it back up and tried to wield it like a master, as one would see a warrior wield a sword in a movie. This only caused her pain, however, as she spliced open part of her hand trying to twirl the dagger. She winced and dropped the knife. Angry, she turned to another weapon.

She saw an axe. She had loved cultivating the garden in her yard, and this cultivation often required usage of a hoe. An axe was similar to a hoe, was it not? She would just need to swing…

She picked up the axe and chopped at the ground. She liked the feeling of swinging the blade, and she felt that this was probably the best weapon she was going to find. She just needed to swing…all the anger she needed was already inside her. But then she dropped the axe, and a tear fell from her eye. Could she really kill a person, let alone with an axe? An axe, she realized, was gruesome. She couldn't…she'd never kill someone outright. Could she do that? Did she have the mental strength to live with herself? She feared not.

Gasping a little from her tears, she moved over to what she felt was the last resort of weapons. She found a booklet full of poisons that demonstrated what the poisons looked like, how they tasted, their antidotes, and the effective ways of making someone ingest them. Perhaps, she realized, she'd be able to poison someone. It was not dirty. There would be no blood. She'd just have to sleep a little poison into someone's drink and walk away. It would be as simple as that.

Apple ignored the thought and glanced around the room. She was looking for someone; she saw Qax, her protecter, trying to wield a sword. He looked big and strong and she felt utterly grateful for the protection her swore to give her. Better yet, she knew he had a vendetta against the careers because of what happened to her son. _Qax…thank you._

**Angel Maxim (District 4 Female)**

Angel was in an important discussion with her friend Stark, as well as the district fourteen male, Fetch. Like many of the other tributes, they were discussing a potential alliance. Angel said, "Don't ask anyone from district one or two," she said quickly, "I…I don't like them."

"Neither do I," Stark said. "But hey, Fetch, what about that girl from your district?"

Fetch realized they were referring to September and just laughed in their faces. He seemed a little cocky for their liking, but he was strong. They'd definitely want to be his friend rather than his enemy. Even Stark had to admit that Fetch was absurdly well-built and absurdly dangerous. Fetch said in response to their question, "That girl won't team up with us. She hardly talked to me on the way up on the train. She's crazy." He laughed again. "You know, she killed her entire family."

"Sounds like a good ally," Angel admitted. "She can help us take down the other careers."

Fetch just sighed and said gruffly, "If she'd join us, I would ask her. But I don't think she's interested in forming an alliance. She's not into that whole…concept, I don't think."

"Why?" Stark asked. "Someone like her should be all over an alliance. I mean, she has a serious chance of winning this whole thing. Why would she not wanna better those chances and team up with us?" Stark had a point, yet once again, Fetch shot him down.

To rid himself of the boredom of their conversation, Fetch began showing off his physical strength by tossing immense sandbags great distances. If one of those things landed on someone, Angel would have pitied the person who got crushed. She shuddered at the sight of Fetch's strength. Even her district partner, a career, might have been weaker than Fetch. That would prove to be an interesting battle, no doubt, if the game ever came around to it.

"Shall we talk strategy?" Stark asked.

Angel said, "What are you all gonna do for your training scores?"

Fetch laughed haughtily. "I'll kill a person."

Recognizing his sarcasm, Angel said, "No, really." She rolled her eyes and walked a few feet away from Fetch. She appreciated him, yet at times she felt he thought he was better than everyone else. She wasn't going to challenge him in a battle, but perhaps if the time came around to it, she'd sic Stark on him. "I was thinking I'd build a bomb or something. That's what I love, after all." _I wonder what that stupid Lilac is gonna do?_

Stark said, "I'll probably show off my mastery at wielding stuff. Like do some tricks with a sword or a javelin." He cracked his knuckles and glanced over at Fetch.

"You have 'wielding' skills?" Fetch wondered. "Care to show 'em off?" Fetch looked expectantly at Stark, not really willing to take no for an answer.

Stark complied and picked up a blunt pole. He twirled it around in his hands a few times, getting faster and faster with each coming second. The speed at which he was spinning the pole was so fast that Fetch and Angel could hear the wind whipping about as though a fan were turned on. Stark then adjusted his stance, spun the pole around his arm and then threw it behind himself. Masterfully he caught it and spun his entire body around, making swings at the air to show how he could use these tricks in a real fight. The way he manipulated the pole was impressive and, unless he was fighting a true fighter, tricks such as these would have taken a person completely off there guard.

Fetch said, "Huh." He was a little surprised and had to admit Stark knew how to twirl a pole. But then he said, "Looked more like fairy dancin' to me, but whatever. You got a good arm, I suppose." He went back to throwing the sandbags and ignored Stark's unappreciative look.

Angel glanced around awkwardly and, seeing how the males in her alliance weren't getting along, decided to go off and do something alone. She went to the grande station and examined the small explosives. She picked up a dummy grenade and felt its weight. She eyed a spot on the ground and hurled the grenade, trying her best to land as accurately to the spot as possibly. It was a bullseye, really. She didn't want to sound like she could do everything, but mentally she acknowledged that she was by far the most physically sound of any of the women there.

"That's quite a throw," someone acknowledged. Angel whirled around and saw a tribute. He was standing there, muscles bulging, and trying to look impressive. Angel recognized him as Torque. "Say, would you like to see me throw?"

Angel handed him the grenade and said, "Have at it."

Torque threw the grenade at the same spot Angel did and was equally as successful. Angel showed no sign of awe, however, and actually turned her back and yawned. She said, "Don't you have anything better to do than try to impress the ladies?"

Torque was surprised. "What?" He backed up a little bit. "Angel, I wanted to ask you to join my alliance. I mean, I'm practically a career—"

"A career? What? So now, just because people are strong means they're careers?" She laughed in his face. " 'A career'!" She mimicked. She laughed again and turned away. "I've been better twelve year old careers. You, sir, are a phony."

Torque looked offended. "A phony? Really? Have you killed four people? No? Well, I imagine you'd be surprised to know that I have. And don't you worry, Angel. I'll be coming for you. You and Stark. I hope you're ready." He laughed in _her _face and walked away. Angel just rolled her eyes and continued working with the grenade-throwing.

**September Realer (District 14 Female)**

September was alone. She was at the ball-and-chain station wielding what she considered to be her favorite weapon. The ball-and-chain, she felt, was the greatest weapon of all. For one, given that she was an expert at wielding one, usage of it required little movement. This was ideal and gave her wounded leg a much needed rest. Also, it was a particularly gory weapon. She had killed many a person with a ball-and-chain, and when spike made contact with flesh, the battle was over.

September whirled the chain around with expert precision. Given the extreme length of the chain, no sword would be able to break through the immense radius the ball-and-chain gave her. She was safe, as though she were in her own little bubble.

A dummy stood of few feet away from her. At first she practiced only technical wielding. Then, however, she wanted to strike. She spun the chain around more quickly and, spontaneously, whipped the ball down right on the dummy's chest. Ricco had been watching from a few feet away, and when he saw her bring the chain down, he gasped. He hadn't even seen the attack coming. From what he was able to see, she was wielding the chain the exact same way until—one time—she quickly flicked her wrist and brought the ball down at a quick pace. How could a person defend himself from this? He made a face and walked away briskly.

September brought the ball down four more times, each time stronger and more efficient than the last. She grunted and growled each time, and by the time she was done, the dummy looked like an ugly mass of contorted plastic. She was satisfied with herself. One for her father, one for her mother, one for her brother, and one for her sister…


	8. Training: Day 2

**Here's the second training day. After this we have only three chapters before the games begin! This chapter I particularly liked.**

**Note: A poll is now up in my profile regarding who your favorite tributes are.**

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**Training Day 2**

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**Qax Qionis (District 6 Male)**

The first day of training had gone well for most of the tributes. Careers such as Atlas and Xion made considerable impressions on the majority of the players, and even several of the quieter and less hostile players decided to try their hands at using a weapon. All but a handful of players found the first training day particularly useful.

After the first, the tributes were brought back to the dreadful-looking training arena to practice a second time. This was their final day of practice, and the following day all twenty-eight tributes would need to impress the game-makers and receive their training scores. The training scores would act as an important passage to many sponsorships, because those with high training scores would likely gain the support of many fans. Thus, the competitors needed to practice more than ever on their second day of training in order to gain the upper hand come game time.

Qax was one of these people. He sought out the nearest station and, even though he had no particular skill in throwing a spear, he testing out this new weapon with an open mind. He threw very well, too. He hit the target a little low, but in comparison to a tribute's usual first-time experience with a weapon, he was doing perfectly.

Qax had a drive, though. He wanted to see his family again, and if that was not an option, then he'd like to give Apple the win, instead. He did not plan on allying with or showing mercy toward the careers.

Qax moved on next to the poisonous plants station. There were several plants sealed away inside glass vaults (so as not to let their deadly toxins escape) with name cards before each vault. Qax studied these name cards: Dewroot, Hearst Plant, and Pox Bush. He'd need to watch out for them, for sure. It was unfortunate all of their leaves and stems looked similar to nonpoisonous common plants. He studied these plants, remembering the reddish tint of the Dewroot and the strange bulbs within the Pox Bush, and moved on.

He saw Xion and Lilac doing battle with swords. Xion was the notable champion between the two, although he had to admit that Lilac was holding her own surprisingly well. But Qax did not want to watch them. Those were his competitors, and as smart as it may have been to study up on his main enemies, he could not bring himself to waste the time watching. He needed to practice.

His bow and arrow skills were lacking, he noticed. Given that his hands constantly shook a little, he found it difficult to steady his bow. For this reason he spent some extra time trying to calm down and make his hands stop their incessant movement. He tried pulling back the bow and released an arrow. It flew well, but did not hit the target. Qax grimaced. He tried another shot. It hit, but it hit the dummy in the foot. _Better than not hitting anything at all_.

Qax decided to give up on his bow and arrow skills. He'd rather spend the rest of the day getting to know some of the other weapons in the arena and try his hand at those. After all, an axe or a scimitar didn't require the same kind of precision a bow did.

"Care to fight?" Feyot asked him. Feyot stood holding a club. "It's important to get to use blunt weapons."

Qax had seen Feyot fight before. He was a novice at best. He knew he could best him in but a few seconds, but he decided to humor Feyot and pick up an equally as large club. The two then put on some armor for their battle simulation and, without preparing further, went to battle.

Feyot stood back with his club and hopped around. "Try and hit me," he taunted. He jumped barely out of the strong slash Qax through down. Feyot tried to return the attack, but only got his club knocked back in his face by Qax's. Feyot stumbled a little and laughed. Qax just looked at him.

"Perhaps you should try your hand at a different weapon," Qax suggested.

Feyot shrugged. He went in to slash at Qax again and missed. Qax retaliated with a powerful swing to the armor on Feyot's back and sent him down to the ground. Feyot, for a second, dropped his club, but scampered over to it and picked it up.

Still on the ground, Feyot slashed as Qax's legs. Qax was taken only slightly off-balance before returning Feyot's attack with an attack of his own. Feyot was sent sprawling around the floor and after a few seconds yelled, "I yield!"

Qax just sighed. He took off his armor slowly and watched as Feyot did the same. Something about that battle was just…odd. Qax didn't know why Feyot was always trying to battle people with a club. He remembered yesterday seeing him get bested by Terra, Axem, and Spade. Why would he continue to do battle. Qax offered his hand to help the man up and said, "Have you tried other weapons?"

Feyot just stood confidently. "I don't need another weapon."

**Vyxsin Esher (District 7 Female)**

"Ricco," Vyxsin said, "I don't think I can kill someone."

"Neither do I," Ricco agreed. "But…what about poison? I mean, poison isn't so bad, is it?" He laughed a nervous laugh, but then his face turned into one of disgust. He didn't want to be there. He wanted to go home and see his poor wife.

Vyxsin thought for a moment. How could she possibly win the Hunger Games if she were not willing to kill someone? She thought about her little sister. Would she be mad if, say, Vyxsin killed someone? Vyxsin was unsure, and the constant thought of murder and betrayal and blood was making her mind race. Her heart was pounding and before long she found herself shivering. She warmed herself up and adjusted her wild hair-due, turning back to Ricco. "You think we should study poisons?" She shrugged. She wasn't sure what to do with herself.

Ricco said, "I…I guess." He then said, "Is there any other way to survive? I mean, we _have _to kill people eventually, right?" He shuddered. "I mean, how else could one of us win? This is painful. I can't believe I'm going to kill someone. I mean, if it were not for my poor, poor wife…" He reflected upon the person he left at home. He needed to get back home for her. If she were not there, then he would have no problem sacrificing himself for another kind-hearted person. But…he just couldn't leave her.

Vyxsin said, "Maybe we shouldn't team up…"

"What?" Ricco asked, confused. "C'mon, I'm not _that _annoying!" He laughed at himself, then said, "But…why wouldn't you want to ally with me? I mean…why not?"

Vyxsin started to tear up, "Because…" She sighed. "There's no way I'm going to be able to kill you. Maybe…maybe it would just be for the best if we separated. Then we can go on our separate ways…" She began to cry a little bit. Ricco put his hand on her shoulder.

"There, there…" He tried to help her. "If it comes down to the two of us, we can just refuse to fight. What would the game-makers do then?" He posed an interesting question. Vyxsin looked up at him in realization.

"You know…you're right," she said. "We could always just…not kill each other!"

"Exactly!"

"Why didn't I think of that before?" Vyxsin smiled a little bit. She was feeling so much better. Ricco looked proud of what he figured out. Vyxsin turned away and walked over to the stand full of poisons. "I think we should study now." She picked up a book and looked through it.

"This'll be hard to remember," Ricco noted.

Vyxsin sighed. "Yeah."

Ricco then remembered something. "Wait," he said. "Earlier, I was watching past videos of past Hunger Games." He tried to remember as best as he could. "There were only a few cases where people died of poison. And…I believe the majority of the times they were all killed with the same poison."

Vyxsin thought about this, but concluded nothing of importance. "So?"

Ricco said, "So, it's likely there's a specific kind of poison the game-makers typically put into the arena. Therefore, if we can study up on that poison, we'll gain a serious upper hand."

"You're right."

Ricco said, "I'm trying to remember the name." He looked around absent-mindedly. "It started with a 'Q', I believe. I remember, because it had a really weird name."

Vyxsin took it upon herself to flip through the book of poisons until she came to the poisons that started with the letter Q. There were only two: "Quozzis and Quell Drop".

"Quell Drop," Ricco said seriously. "I know it was that. In the Hunger Games I watched, at least nine out of ten people died of Quell Drop."

The girl looked back at the page. She and Ricco began studying up on this poison.

"Quell Drop is particularly effective for usage on skin," Vyxsin said, having read the passage in the book. "Apparently it corrodes the top layers of someone's skin and then burrows deep into the bloodstream. There are only a few antidotes, and according to the book, many of them are expensive, so it's likely most people won't receive them through sponsorships." She continued to read. "There is a mosquito-like bug that apparently deposits Quell Drop in microscopic amounts. It's not enough to hurt a person, though." She continued on. "But…if you find a nest of these bugs…you'll find a lot of it."

Ricco hung on every last word. "Let's head over to the poisonous animals station. I think we should read up on this bug…"

**Atlas Rockwell (District 1 Male)**

Atlas was at the sword-fighting station. Moon was a few feet away. She seemed to be watching someone, but Atlas hadn't paid enough attention to see whom. He was too focused on the dummy in front of him. He watched it as though it were a real person, and then quickly slashed at it. The dummy was split in half and Atlas was left feeling proud. Again, he slashed, and then slashed once more even more quickly. He spun, twisted, and then brought the sword down on the dummy's head. The entire thing fell to the floor.

Atlas sheathed his sword and walked over to the camouflage station. Moon followed him. He noticed, though, she still had her eye on someone. He began working with the various muds and paints available at the station. He tried painting his arm. Once completed, he testing it against a jungle backdrop placed in the training arena specifically for that purpose. He fit in with the sinews perfectly.

"This is great," Atlas said, realizing his newly found talent. "Who knew camouflage could be so cool?"

This talent would no doubt be an integral part in his survival. Most careers focused on being strong and ruthless. It couldn't hurt, though, to hide in the shadows every once in awhile and then spring out behind a strong-bodied enemy. Atlas played the game smart and tried his best to do what the stereotypical career didn't do.

"This is so cool," he repeated. "Moon?" he asked her. He looked up from his station and saw her staring at Lilac. "What…what's this all about? You don't want to open a wound with Lilac…"

"She already hates me."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do," Moon replied. "I see the way she looks at me. You know how she always analyzes the ways she can kill a person? Well, I know she does that with me. She hates me." Moon was becoming the ruthless person Atlas knew her to be. She would no doubt make it her life's work to kill Lilac. It wasn't necessarily because Lilac really was against her, or that Moon truly hated Lilac, but because Moon always had a compulsion to be the strongest women wherever she was.

"It's alright," Atlas said. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

Moon shrugged it off. "I'm gonna go look at the ointments." She rushed off and, at first Atlas was confused, but then he realized she was referencing the skin condition she had. He let her be and got back to his work.

**Katz Wisp (District 13 Female)**

Katz was lingering about. All of her physical training, in her opinion, was done. She was spending her time reading up on various dangerous things within the game and talking to some people. She wanted to learn about each tribute and figure out what their weaknesses were.

Katz spotted Watch reading about poisonous plants and decided to take a seat next to him. "Oh, how _are _you, Watch?" She smiled at him superficially and watched as he awkwardly shifted away. She grinned at him like an alluring enchantress and tried again. "My, what is that you're doing, there?"

Watch shrugged. "Reading."

"Reading?"

"I suggest that you do the same." He coughed. "You should stop flirting." He laughed a little bit and rose in eyebrows.

She took this as an offensive sign and shot up from her seat. "Why would I ever flirt with the likes of you?!" She moved away. "Don't you know who I am? Why would a rich man's daughter try to flirt with a…middle-aged, depressing-looking, gadget-loving guy like you?" She walked away. "I'm not a flirt! That's Cilla!" She rushed away and went looking for someone else to talk to.

She found Lilac and Xion enjoying themselves to a joust with battle axes. Katz interrupted and said, "So, may I join your alliance?" Xion looked up at her and Lilac stood defensively away. For a second, Lilac thought Xion was seriously considering her question.

"Sorry, but we have no room," Lilac said. She looked back at Xion, who seemed unsure. Lilac played with her hair a little bit. "Katz, look at all that pretty make-up you have on. Shouldn't you have not gussied yourself up before training?"

"I can fight and still look beautiful," Katz insisted.

It was true. Even Xion had to admit it. Katz looked absolutely majestic, between the way she did her hair and the striking make-up she applied. She looked like some sort of queen. Lilac just shifted away in disgust and grabbed Xion's arm. She whispered, "Xion, forget about Katz."

Xion nodded. "Sorry, Katz." He picked up his battle axe again. "We don't want you on our team."

Katz just shrugged and said, "Alright, honey. Maybe we can talk once your little girlfriend isn't around." Katz walked away and left Lilac and Xion in awe. Both of them seemed completely dumbstruck as to how to respond, and so left the girl walk away without another insult.

"That dumb girl," Lilac said.

"Don't worry about it," Xion assured her. "I'll kill her first."

Katz disappeared after that. She returned to one of the fighting stations and dangled a small pocket knife from her hand. She was tired. She cared not an ounce that no one liked her. If anything, she saw that as a plus. She was unique. She would be alone, and so no one would know what she was doing. In the games, if she had no allies, there would be no tribute who would know of what she was doing. Allies were fallacies, in her mind. Why would anyone trust their life in another's hands? She definitely didn't, and she didn't mind letting everyone know, either.

**Hope Pearl (District 9 Female)**

The previous training day, Hope had spent the majority of her time trying to find someone she could confide in. Her district partner, Rave, was too willing to participate in the game's ways, so she steered clear of him. She still felt bad for him, though. _The poor dear has lost his wife_. She thought about Rave a lot, as did she think about her grandson. Her grandson, whom she so longed to see, was sick at that very moment, she knew. She'd do anything to get home to see him. If only she didn't have such a fear of weapons, she'd fight herself through this terrible little game and let her conscious decide whether she'd remain sane.

So, she tried to find a friend. She wasn't even looking for an ally. She just needed someone to talk to. Earlier that day she had successfully befriended Thea Maple. Thea was the district twelve female, and, in Hope's opinion, was the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Immediately the two had agreed to stick by each other's sides—they were both older women, so they were practically sisters—and defend each other in time of crisis.

"Thea. Come, dear!" Hope called to her friend. Thea was just finishing up trying to figure out how to tie a successful knot. The two approached each other and began a very serious discussion.

"Yes?"

"Thea, we must discuss." Hope sighed. "How shall we proceed regarding…tomorrow."

"The training scores?" Thea asked quickly. "I say we let those go to waste. I…I don't want to take any sponsorships away from Jape, anyway." Hope remembered that Thea had a great friendship with Jape. If Jape and Thea were friends, Hope considered herself friends with Jape, as well.

She asked, "About this 'Jape'…why do you care for him so much?"

Thea sighed. "Because he is young. And he is kind and loving. And…he has many confidence issues. He has practically given up on himself, and I just can't allow that to happen! Hope, you should have seen how depressed he was. I mean, the young man has a whole life ahead of him. I don't think it is right to just let his self esteem kill him."

"Well, then," Hope said, "I suggest we do anything to protect him! If I can't win, I'd like to see either you or Jape win. It sounds like he is a great person, so I would not mind helping him." She thought for a moment. "Perhaps we should call him over."

The two females went searching for their young friend. They found him easily. He was learning from September how to wield a ball-and-chain. Thea and Hope both thought it odd that September would open up to a person—let alone teach someone—but they shrugged the thought off quickly. If she was going to teach their friend, they really didn't mind.

Jape was wielding the ball-and-chain without much precision or technique. September grew angry at him easily for his constant missteps, and after a short while he grew frustrated and said, "It's hopeless. I'm never going to be able to kill someone." He thanked September for teaching him what little she did. She slowly walked away.

"Jape," Thea said earnestly, "I'd like to extend my hand and say that I am here to protect you."

"Me too," Hope agreed. "Son, you must never give up on yourself. You are strong, even if you don't think you are."

"Strong at heart," Thea said.

Jape smiled just a little bit and said, "I'm sorry, but…I just can't win these games. I know you believe in me, but the careers will tear me apart. I am not worthy to be on this battlefield. I'm…sorry." He shrugged his shoulders.

Thea eyed him up seriously. "Jape, that's no way to talk."

"I think…" Hope began, "we should help you out."

Jape looked only moderately interested. He wasn't really sure why he was getting all this attention. "How so?"

Hope said, "I would like to talk about your plans for your training score."

"You need to pull off something big."

"Right," Hope agreed.

"But what?" Jape asked. "How?"

"What are you good at?" Thea asked him.

Jape thought about her question seriously for a moment, and then sighed. He hated to admit it, but he wasn't really good at anything. The most experience he had with a weapon was what he learned from September just a few moments ago. "Ball-and-chain."

"Well then," Hope began, "you must hone your skills. Perhaps you can go fetch September and seek her help again. Either way, you should practice. Spend all day practicing, so that tomorrow you will be able to impress the game makers." Hope smiled at him. Jape agreed, and went off to find September. He thanked the two women earnestly upon his leave and left them both standing their, thinking.

Thea really wanted to help Jape. He was like the son she never had, or something. She wasn't really sure. Maybe her affection came about because he was from her district? Or because she wanted to instill a kind of virtue in him? If she wasn't going to win the games, she figured she might as well serve a purpose.

Even Hope was beginning to take to the young man. The three of them, she figured, would be able to work their way through the games and reach the end. She wasn't sure how strong the team was physically, but she knew they all had quite a bit of heart. Hope was happy.

**Axem Jades (District 5 Male)**

All Axem wanted was a place to rest. He took up a chair and moved it over to the archery station. The bow and arrow was his favorite, so he spent the majority of his time sharpening his skills. His leg was hurting him, though, for he had an ever-present limp, and so needed a chair to help him recover.

He pulled the bow back quickly and fired an arrow. Even from his position on the chair he maintained expert performance with the weapon. He smiled a little bit and let his mind wander. He was good at that. He loved hunting, and he was used to daydreaming. He had a surprising talent of being able to let his mind and his bow and arrow function on two different wavelengths.

He thought of his wife and children. He then thought of his grandchildren, who were not yet born. Would they ever be? He didn't know, but he wanted to. What would his family be like? Would he get to see another day with them? He shuddered at the thought of his dying and tried to focus on his archery again.

But once more his mind wandered. What was he to do? How could he survive? He needed an ally, no doubt. He could use his superior hunting skills to his advantage. He could use them as a bribe, to get some careers to let him on their team. He scanned the room after putting down his bow and arrow.

He knew September was psychotic and scary. He avoided her. Xion and Lilac were also notoriously frightening. Moon and Atlas were, as it seemed, his best bet. But then he found Stark, Angel, and Fetch, who currently held the strongest numbers. He thought, _maybe…just maybe_.

Axem stood up and limped to the three, who were chatting idly. He found the courage to ask them if he could join their team, and all at once the three seemed to decline his offer. "Look at your leg," Fetch said. "We can't use you."

"Can't you?" Axem said. "Have you seen me use the bow and arrow?" He pointed over to the station. They admitted they hadn't, and when they did, Axem invited them over to watch. He walked slowly over to the bow and arrow and lifted them.

"Axem, don't—"

"Hush," Axem said to Angel, who had spoken to him. "Watch." He pulled back the bow and let the arrow fly through the air. The shot was direct and accurate. The three tributes all looked on in relative shock at the man's prowess. They all mentally admitted he was better than most people were at using a weapon.

"Alright," Angel said. "I say we take him."

"Fine by me," Stark said.

"Wait." Fetch walked into the middle of the circle of four and tried to push Axem away. "Why on earth would we let this guy join our team?"

"You just saw why," Angel said.

"That bow and arrow thing?" Fetch wondered. "He was good, but that won't help us. The guy can't even run. Besides, I don't want him shooting me in the back when I'm turned around. I say we walk away now."

Axem looked defeated. "Please? I—"

"I like him," Angel said admittedly. "Let's let him on."

"But—" Stark cut Fetch off.

"If he acts suspicious, we'll get rid of him." Stark had to admit, though, Axem would likely be a genuine help to the team. Besides, if Fetch was stupid enough to give Axem the opportunity to kill him, Stark wouldn't even blame Axem for shooting him.

Fetch grumbled. "Whatever."

"Thank you, guys. From the bottom of my heart, thank you…"

**Fox Berry (District 5 Female)**

Fox wept. She had been crying all day. She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to do anything. Most important, she didn't want to kill. The thought of murdering someone was like poison to her mind. She couldn't just end someone's life to save hers. She cried more and more.

And besides, what was the point of survival? She had no one to go back home to. She had no family. At least, she had none who cared for her. She felt more alone than ever, and worse yet, there were no people willing to offer her a hand. No one was caring. Everyone was too interested in the games to notice that she was depressed. Once she tried to befriend Jape, but skulked away out of pure depression. Did she need a friend? It felt hopeless.

She analyzed the competitors. There were the ruthless careers: Atlas, Lilac, Angel, and the rest. There were the strong-bodied non-careers: Qax, Sapphire, and Torque. There were even some martyrs: Cloud and Terra. Then there were the people who looked hopeless: Jape, Raz, and Apple. There were so many different kinds of people Fox didn't know what to think. The thought that plagued her the most was that all of this diversity was trying to kill itself. And, in the end, there would only be one victor. There would only be one person—perhaps a career or a depressed soul?—who would win.

Fox had two options. She could fight, or she could hide. If she fought, she would never be the innocent person she once was. Also, she didn't think she'd be able to mentally survive. She might drive herself insane with just the thought of murdering someone. But…need she look at it like murder? It was survival. It really wasn't murder. It was self-defense. Everyone else was trying to kill her, anyway.

She pondered that and realized she could also hide. In the forest—which there no doubt would be—she could hide among the trees and simply never come out. She'd never have to run or fight or do anything. And when it got down to just her and one other tribute, she'd stay hiding. Perhaps the other person would walk into a trap and die. She considered this and finally nodded to herself. She would not fight. She would hide.

**Lilac Phios (District 2 Female)**

Lilac and Xion were discussing their alliance. The two agreed to leave the alliance at only a two-person coalition. If they invited anyone else to join them, things could get messy. Those two trusted each other, and Lilac would have done anything for Xion if he would call upon her. She might…even die for him.

This thought rushed around in her brain as she scanned the room. Her eyes rested upon the siren, Moon. She was there, standing with Atlas, looking utterly unfazed. Lilac didn't know how Moon could keep such composure; Lilac, herself, found it difficult to keep a straight and calm face during just about any situation.

She knew what to do, though. She knew if she just thought about how she could kill Moon…yes! That was it! Thinking about the most effective way to kill a person always gave Lilac the kind of calming medicine she needed. She grasped Xion's arm clumsily and dragged him around the room with her. He said, "Who's that over there?" He was referring to the man who sat motionless atop a stool. The man did not seem to be moving; his eyes were closed.

"Raz, I think."

Xion laughed. "That fool! Doesn't he know what training days are for?" He flicked Lilac off of his arm and strutted over to the half-asleep man. Lilac braced herself for what she felt was going to be a riveting charade of mocking Raz.

"Kick his stool down!" Lilac suggested.

Xion did even better. He grabbed Raz by the shirt collar and stood him up. Raz was so taken aback he let out a very audible gasp as he was thrust into the air. The man flailed helplessly as Xion laughed in his face. "What's the matter, guy?" He was poking fun at him, and the more he did, the more Lilac grew attached to her district two partner.

Raz yelled, "Please! Let me down!" Xion did just that, flinging him away. Raz took a deep breathe in and out and looked at Xion angrily. The career merely laughed in his face once more, making the situation all the more humiliating.

"You idiot. What were you doing?"

"I was sleeping, or trying to."

Xion rolled his eyes. "And…hmm, aren't these the training days?" He poked Raz in the chest.

Lilac laughed. "The fool was sleeping! Sleeping!" She could barely contain her laughter before Xion spoke.

"Let us do battle, Raz." Xion walked over to a pair of battle axes and picked two up. He picked up two sets of armor as well, and threw an armor and an axe in front of Raz. The man looked down at them, nervous, and then shook his head. He did not want to do battle with the career from district two. He didn't want to do battle even with the weakest among them. He sought not to fight.

"No, I won't."

Xion let out a hearty laugh. By then, a handful of tributes had gathered. They stood watching Xion's and Raz's every moves, yet none took the opportunity to try and save Raz from skirmishing with the career. "Well, then, I will _make _you. He picked up his axe and slashed a little bit at Raz's arm. He did not swing hard enough to wound him, yet he did make an impact worthy of Raz's stumbling.

"Xion, please," Raz said, shaking his head.

"He won't fight!" Lilac laughed. "This guy is hilarious!"

Even more tributes joined to see the inevitable battle between the two. At that moment, Xion had his armor on and his axe ready. Raz looked like he wanted to run away. Some tributes (such as Sapphire and Torque and Katz) seemed to be enjoying the show. Others wanted nothing more than to see Xion pummeled by anything big enough _to _pummel him.

Xion went for another powerless swing, trying not to would Raz, but make a mockery of him. He picked up his axe behind his head and chuckled. _Clank! _Xion went stumbling forward as he felt a force strike the back of his armor. He shook his head a few times to steady himself, and then turned around. He saw Thea, who was wielding the axe, and Hope, who stood by the other like a sister ready to die in battle.

"Let him alone!" Thea yelled. "He doesn't want to fight!"

"And…and you _do_?" Xion asked, laughing.

Thea wasn't ready for that question. She swallowed hard and then let the hand holding the axe fall to her side. She said, "No, I don't. But wish to defend those who need defense. You, sir, are a bully." She turned to Hope, who nodded in approval. Lilac was cracking her knuckles nearby, her eye twitching.

"You fool," Xion said. He began stripping himself of his armor and of his axe. He placed both on the ground and, without another word, left the scene. He pushed Spade out of the way to get out of the circle of tributes, and Lilac followed. The two went over to the corner to sulk.

"Those old biddies," Lilac said, thoughtful.

Xion slammed his fist down. "I hate them! Them and Raz! Those three…"

Lilac touched Xion's hand. "Don't worry, Xion. I…I will never leave you. I would have killed those three right there if I could have. Don't you worry, though. Once the games start, I'll maul them. I'll decapitate them if I have to."

The male chuckled. "Yes, those three will be the ones to die first."

**Terra Celeantra (District 8 Female)**

Terra was angry. She and Cloud had been practicing their sword fighting when they heard a commotion from the center of the room. But they were too late. Hope and Thea had already broken up the ensuing fight, leaving Terra and Cloud away from the action. She was angry. Now, the two ladies had merely put themselves on Xion's radar. Had Terra and her male partner rescued Raz, the two of them would have been able to hold their own in the arena…

But now, it was Hope and Thea who would surely die. Terra grew angry. She was angry at her and Cloud's stupidity. And, more important, she was angry at the way Xion strutted around, as though he were some sort of bronze idol.

"Could we have been any more stupid?" Terra asked Cloud as they returned to the sword fighting station. Cloud merely shrugged, angry as well, and muttered something unsavory under his breath. Terra could tell Cloud wanted nothing more than to maim Xion as early as he possibly could.

Terra watched as her district eight partner disappeared to another station. She knew he was mad. She'd have to remind him, though, not to let his anger overwhelm him. It was angry that fueled both success and failure. Too much anger could lead to erraticism, while enough controlled anger could get a person through even the darkest of hours.

Terra picked up her sword again and did battle with the dummy on her right. She slashed at him and hopped around, moving quickly and efficiently. She struck here and there. She looked like a ninja of sorts as she maneuvered left and right and jabbed at the dummy in quick succession.

"You have a fair skill," someone next to Terra said. The district eight female stopped what she was doing and turned. There, she saw Cilla, who had a sword in her hand and a smirk on her face. Terra wasn't sure how to respond, so Cilla took the opportunity to speak once more. "More of a mediocre skill, really." Cilla marched over to the dummy and displayed her own sword fighting technique. She was slower than Terra was, but the wounds she made in the dummy looked particularly lethal. Terra knew still, however, that she was stronger than Cilla was. If you struck in the right place, you didn't need such a deep gash to kill a person.

"And your skill is fair, as well," Terra acknowledged. She was trying to act like a martyr, yet twice this girl now had caused trouble to either her or Cloud. Terra did not stand to defend the rude as selfless, as innocent and weak as they may be. Terra thought she was doing Cilla a favor by defending the non-careers, but it seemed Cilla took every opportunity to bash district eight's competitors.

"I would ask to do battle," Cilla said, "but if I recall correctly, you said that you prefer to do battle in an environment where there is no light. So, I would not wish to embarrass you." Indeed, Terra had said during her interview with Caesar that she preferred to sword fight in poorly lit areas. That did not mean, though, that she could not do battle any time, anywhere. Terra laughed.

"It seems to me you have fear," Terra said. "You avoid battle with me, yet you mock me. That is the recipe of a coward, did you not know?"

Cilla smirked. "Terra, Terra, Terra." She put her hand on her forehead and let out another laugh. "My skills are supreme." She picked up the sword. "Care to battle?"

Terra glanced around. "Don't we need armor?" She moved to find a piece of armor that would the skirmish, but Cilla stepped in front of her.

"Only little girls need armor," she said. She picked up her sword unexpectedly and tried to slash at Terra. Completely taken aback, she defended Cilla's blow with her sword and stumbled to the ground, knocked over. Cilla reached up to the sky with her blade and let it fall onto the ground where Terra lay. The girl rolled quickly out of the sword's trajectory and picked herself up, balancing her own sword in her right hand.

Cloud had caught wind of the battle and high-tailed it over to see how his district partner was faring. When he reached the battle, he saw Terra and Cilla exchanging quick and strong blows. Terra was slightly overpowering the other, yet it seemed that Cilla was quite the sword fighter.

Cilla quickly dropped to the ground. Terra slashed at the air, missing her target. Cilla rolled fluidly from in front of Terra to her side and brought up her sword as she did.

Terra yelped. The sword had caught her along the waist. She had a clearly visible wound that was slowly but surely becoming a trail of blood. When Cloud saw this, he shrieked. "You aren't using armor?!" If there were another sword nearby, he would have picked it up. So, he did the only thing he knew he could do to break the fight up. Before Terra went to slash back at Cilla, she saw Cloud rushing over to someone far across the room.

Cilla was losing badly now. She had barely been able to get back up before Terra kicked her to the ground. The martyr was angry now, slashing viciously at Cilla, but ensuring that she did not strike her. Killing someone in training meant for disqualification from the games. Terra knew what "disqualification" meant.

Terra laid one final blow down on Cilla that was so strong the girl's sword went flying from her hands. Cilla lay, defenseless, and looked up at Terra in the eyes. The eighth district's female merely held the sword to Cilla's face and threatened her. "I don't want to see you again. Not in training and not in the arena." Cilla had no response.

"Ladies!" The two heard someone's voice calling to them. He sounded very angry, whoever it was. When the man approached, both recognized him as the training master, Flux. He was fuming. "You know you must use armor before you battle! You can't just fight each other to the death yet!" He threw his hands down and walked over to Terra. He ripped the sword from her and tossed it on to the ground. The clank was earth-shattering. "I hope you two don't do anything stupid like this again." He gave them each one final look and, before either could respond, went walking away.

Cloud said to Terra, "That was close. It's good…you didn't kill her." He examined the wound she had on her leg and said, "We ought to get you patched up." Terra looked all the more willing to get herself healed and walked to the health station to see if there were any bandages.

"I wasn't going to hurt her," Terra said when only Cloud could hear. "She was…she was mocking my skills. I just wanted to have a friendly little battle."

"With no armor?"

"She attacked me first!" Terra shook her head. "We never even had a chance to put armor on. Stupid."

Cloud looked back at his partner. This certainly put a wrench in things. He didn't care, though, for he knew he and his partner would prove to be some of the toughest tributes out in the arena. He and his partner, although a little shaken up, were not worried one bit.


	9. Training Scores

**This is the training scores chapter. Here all of the tributes will receive their scores, which will play a big part in their survival. Let us see how the tributes do, yes?**

**ghostleon: First and foremost, thanks for the review. Also, I'm glad to see you've made your favorites and whatnot. I'm trying to make some characters more likable and others more cold, but ultimately I want to leave the decision of which character you like the best up to the readers. So, I think it's cool that you're taking to some people. Hopefully these training scores will help straighten some things out. Thanks once again!**

* * *

**Training Scores**

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The two training days were done, and the morning after the second, all twenty-eight tributes created their own routine to show off to the game-makers. These routines were to show off the players' prowesses at any of the various stations. After each routine, the game-makers would judge the performance based on the tribute's talent in the areas they demonstrated. A score from one to twelve would then be awarded to each tribute. These scores would play incalculable importance in the games, as tributes with higher scores would typically get sponsored. Thus, the tributes were on the edges of their seats as their training scores were revealed.

**Atlas Rockwell (District 1 Male)**

Atlas and Moon watched the television from their large common room. This score, Atlas knew, would be absolutely vital in the way the rest of the games panned out. His leg was shifting uneasily as the highlights of his private session were revealed.

In his private session Atlas chose to show off two of his strengths: his physical and his mental prowess. First, he did his best to impress the game-makers with his unusual scythe-wielding skills. Although a scythe was not typically a common weapon, he tried to convey to the judges that he would be able to use any kind of weapon they threw at him. Second, Atlas maneuvered to the camouflage station, where he demonstrated the realistic-looking facade he could paint. He only demonstrated with his left arm, for he didn't have much time, but he felt this would be a talent worth showing off regardless. Besides, how often had the game-makers seen a career who took a more watered-down approach to their private session? He knew for sure Xion would show off only his physical prowess, so Atlas took a risk and chose to point out his different skills.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Atlas smiled and nodded. Moon looked pleased, but said, "If that could have been an eleven…" She sat pondering what the other tributes were going to score.

The male didn't seem too fazed. "I think it played well with the sponsors, though." He wasn't sure if he was right, but he was definitely hoping. He rested easily that night knowing his training score was a very respectable one.

**Moon Vexus (District 1 Female)**

The highlights of Moon's performance were being shown on the screen. Moon had convinced herself she was the best knife-thrower in the entire group, so she decided to show off these skills for the judges. Her performance consisted entirely of knife-throwing. First, she stood relatively close to the target and hurled a knife. It stuck with accuracy. She moved back several feet and threw again. She continued this charade until she was so far back she could barely reach the target with a powerful throw. Every time the knife stuck perfectly. To really show off what she was made of, though, she blindfolded herself and got back to knife-throwing. Her throws were slightly less accurate, but they were still very close. She figured this would not be such a detriment, for a human being was larger than one square inch.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Atlas frowned. He seemed pleased with the score he received, yet he felt disappointed that Moon shared this score. She, too, did not seem very happy. "I thought for sure you were going to get an eleven…" Atlas just looked utterly confused.

"I…" She was holding her head in her hands. "What did I do wrong? I threw perfectly!"

"That…" Atlas didn't know how to finish. "That was a rip-off," he said.

**Xion Macabre (District 2 Male)**

Xion waited impatiently to receive his score. He had already seen the previous two's scores, for they revealed the scores in order of districts, and spent a good five minutes laughing at the score Moon received. He chuckled and said, "That sucks!"

Atlas was right about Xion's performance. The second district's career had an entire private session dedicated to showing off his strength. Xion first went to the large sandbags in the center of the arena. Using his extremely powerful upper body to throw the bag and his height to gain extra vertical distance, Xion hurled the bag forward a distance no one could have thought possible. He then tried throwing two sand bags—several hundred pounds—and threw them forward with such strength that they landed and exploded on impact. He saw several of the game-makers watching from above clap quietly to themselves. Last, Xion showed off some of his weaponry skills by demonstrating his axe-throwing and axe-wielding. He hit the target spot-on.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

"Ha!" Xion yelled at no one in particular. Lilac hugged him (he didn't predict that) and congratulated him over and over.

"You just demolished Moon's score!" she said triumphantly. Really, he had only scored one point higher, but when it came to careers, each point meant the world. She was happy and ecstatic and constantly ranted about Xion's performance even when his excitement had been doused.

**Lilac Phios (District 2 Female)**

Lilac hoped she put up an equally impressive score, so she urged Xion to watch her masterful usage of the slew of weapons she had chosen for her performance. First, she demonstrated her usage of the dagger, and actually communicated with the judges through speech. "You can kill someone here with one strong blow…" She went on for several minutes explaining several ways to easily kill a person with a dagger. She knew tricks and secrets and weak points and everything. Then, given her lust for unusual killing, she demonstrated using bear traps, shurikens, spears, and swords. She had a whole bag of tricks to display, and by the time she was done, she felt she put up a highly impressive performance.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

"Eight?!" Lilac screamed. Her jaw was on the floor and she looked like she had just been slapped in the face with reality. And she was. When she saw the score appear on screen she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She felt so embarrassed to be "the career who got an eight during their training score".

Xion wasn't sure how to respond. "Well…"

She had a few tears forming in her eyes. "Xion, what did I do wrong?"

The only thing he could possibly think of was that the judges didn't like the part where she explained effective ways of killing someone with a knife. He wasn't sure why, but he thought maybe the judges found that part annoying and boring. "I…I don"t know."

Lilac slammed her fist down. "I hate them!" She got up and scampered off to a different room.

**Raz Golding (District 3 Male)**

Raz had not wanted to do anything for his training session, but when Flux explained to him that he couldn't opt out of putting up some kind of performance, Raz decided to take a very non-dangerous route. Like Atlas, he chose to show off his skills at camouflage. He wasn't all that great (for he hadn't spent a single minute practicing during the training days), but camouflaging something in general wasn't a very difficult task. He slopped some paint and mud on himself—he displayed both of his arms and his face—and then tested his camouflage against the backdrop. His performance wasn't quite as good as Atlas's, but he felt his camouflage was still moderately respectable. And, most important, he didn't really care how well he did.

TRAINING SCORE: 4

Raz didn't move a muscle. He didn't really care that he performed so poorly.

Spade also remained silent. She only glanced over at Raz to see the expression on his face, but when he didn't seem fazed in the slightest, she decided to keep her mouth shut. She was more worried about her own performance, anyway.

**Spade Bex (District 3 Female)**

Spade did what she did best: she made use of her time with the bow and arrow. First she took a few practice shots to show the judges she had a good arm. Then she stepped farther back and tried some more difficult shots. She hopped on ledges and bannisters and tried shooting from different angles. All of her shots landed spot-on. She even used the moving target, which she shot near-flawlessly. To impress the game-makers even more, she got the smart idea of making her performance even a little more stylish. She did flips and jumps and tried more than anything to make her performance notable. Near the end, however, while dismounting a high ledge and shooting while falling, Spade took a risky shot that didn't pay off as she would have liked. The arrow hit the target, but barely. The shot was not very attractive. Still, though, she put up a rather respectable performance.

TRAINING SCORE: 7

Spade smiled to herself. She didn't look at the seven as being five points away from a perfect score, but as being only one point away from one of the careers. Lilac only held an eight, which was hardly more respectable, so Spade smiled to herself and didn't find her score disappointing in the slightest.

"Good job," Raz said quietly. He looked at her but still remained rather anti-social.

"Thanks," Spade responded. She, too, was quiet, but she tried to put forth the effort to sound nice and friendly. She was just so happy, though. She knew at that very moment her brother was watching her. She knew he'd be proud. And that was all she ever wanted.

**Stark Locar (District 4 Male)**

Stark knew exactly what kind of performance he'd need to put up. He knew exactly what he was going to do, and had no fear in his mind that this was going to work. As he had done on the first day, Stark decided to show off his mastery at manipulating a weapon. He found a particularly difficult weapon to handle—a spear—and tried his hand at spinning and flipping and turning the weapon around. He rolled it along his back, took steps forward and backward, and did a lot of tricks. Every so often he transitioned a trick into an attack to show that the kinds of artsy moves he was doing were worthwhile in the battlefield, too. Being a career who was a world-class wielder of blunt and sharp objects alike, Stark made not a single mistake in his private session, which he felt went over well.

TRAINING SCORE: 9

Stark muttered something beneath his breath. He knew his performance wasn't as good as Xion's, but he felt he definitely held a candle to Atlas. And now, he ended up one point beneath him. The tribute rolled his eyes and scowled. Angel, too, shared in his anger. "They rigged those stupid scores!" She pouted. "Did you notice that only Xion got a fair score so far?"

Stark was too annoyed to respond. "I look pathetic."

"No you don't."

"I do," he insisted. "I scored only a point higher than Lilac. I can't believe I only got a nine."

"Who cares?" Angel asked.

"The sponsors do," the male said.

"We don't need sponsors."

**Angel Maxim (District 4 Female)**

Angel watched the television nervously. She knew the performance she had put up was exceedingly risky, but she hoped the game-makers were able to comprehend the magnitude of the difficulty of what she had done.

The demonstration Angel put forth was one that played off her biggest strength. She was a bomb-builder, so she spent the little time she had rigging the inside of a grenade, adding a few parts and pieces and chemicals, and displaying the newly made bomb for the judges to see. To explain why her bomb was better, she demonstrated using a real grenade the kind of explosion it made. Then, she threw her grenade and was pleased to see that her craft had come out perfectly. The explosion was at least one and a half times the size of the explosion the first grenade produced. The judges, she saw, all seemed genuinely impressed by her skills and a few of the game-makers seemed to tip their hats in an applauding manner.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

"Wow," Stark commented.

Angel was overjoyed and, frankly, a little surprised. She had expected at least a nine or ten, but not an eleven. Little did she know, the game-makers had a great liking for man-made weapons, so her risk had paid off better than anything. "I…I can't believe it! This will get us the sponsors we need!"

Stark nodded and smiled. Sponsors, indeed.

**Axem Jades (District 5 Male)**

With the new support Axem had from three of the strongest tributes in the game (Stark, Angel, and Fetch), Axem knew exactly what kind of show he'd need to put on to impress the judges. He was a master at the bow and arrow, so he'd use this kind of skill to prove to the judges that age didn't matter. He wanted to show that anyone with the right weapon could be a true champion.

Axem was surprised to see that Spade had done a very similar routine. The only difference was that Axem had a bad leg, so he resorted to firing all of his arrows from the same place. This, he felt, would be an unusual help. Spade looked like a maniac running about and flipping over things. Also, her shots were good, but they weren't perfect. Axem knew that with his shooting, he'd be able to outdo anyone else who held a bow in his hand. His performance was basic but majestic. He shot from great distances and hit stationary and moving targets alike. The thing that he felt was his biggest help was the speed at which he launched the arrows. At any given time, he shot five different targets in just a few seconds. Each time he landed perfectly.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

Axem smiled to himself. He knew he wouldn't put up a ten or anything, but he was happy to see that he beat out his bow and arrow competitor. This, he figured, would serve as a great boost in his usefulness for the alliance. His friends wouldn't betray him then, would they? Fox smiled faintly at Axem and the two exchanged awkward glances. She was happy for her district partner, but it still pained her to see anyone actually get happiness through doing something related to the terrible games.

**Fox Berry (District 5 Female)**

Fox's performance was the most shocking of them all. The thought to try camouflage had never crossed her mind, and since she didn't like fighting with physical weapons, her performance merely consisted of nothing. The judges looked dumbfounded, Fox cried a little, and the fifteen minutes she had to put on a show were expired. She couldn't tell if she felt smart or stupid, because her mind was racing quickly as she made the decision to do nothing. Maybe, she felt, the judges would appreciate the statement she was making.

TRAINING SCORE: 2

_Well it's better than getting a one_, she realized. And she did find it odd. Why had the judges simply not given her a one? That would have been the obvious choice of a score, but maybe, she thought, they had felt bad for her. She never knew and didn't really care, but she found it odd, nonetheless.

"That was interesting," Axem said, confused. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't want to fight," she reminded him. Then she said, "I just don't know why I got a two…"

The two pondered over the idea for a while but then let the thought die away. Besides, there were plenty more tributes to watch, so the two didn't spend much time thinking about their own scores. Axem was worried, though. He felt bad for her. She would receive no sponsors, he knew. He was scared for the girl.

**Qax Qionis (District 6 Male)**

Qax was watching the television, excited to see his performance flashed across all fourteen of the tributes' screens. He thought his performance sound and efficient, so, despite the constant wonderment regarding how he fared overall, Qax went into watching his private session with a sense of tranquility.

For his private session, Qax wanted to demonstrate what he felt was his best weapon: his fists. Instead of impressing the judges with a blunt weapon or a sharp dagger, he chose what he felt was a very unexpected approach. He circled himself with seven dummies and had at them. He punched, kicked, and spun around the room. He looked like a trained fighter. He flipped up and over and "killed" each of the seven dummies differently. He got one in a choke hold, another he beat to a pulp with his sheer strength, and others he used against each other as a way of waning the enemy's strength. Qax, although knowing he looked rather predatory and crazy, was happy with the private session he showed the game-makers.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

Qax's mouth hung open in awe. An eleven?! He was hoping for a nine, but an eleven?! He couldn't believe it. Apple's face, too, was one of sheer shock, but at the same time, happiness. With his fabulous training score, Apple knew Qax would get sponsored. No one could pass up on the non-career who scored the same as a career.

A tear fell from Apple's eye. She was so happy for him and was always so grateful of Qax's appreciation toward her. She said, "Oh, Qax. Good for you! Good for you!"

Qax smiled warmly. "You know I will defend you, Apple. If I get any sponsorships, I'll share them with you."

"Nonsense," Apple said, waving away his offer.

"No. I know what you've been through. You don't deserve to lose your life."

**Apple Lockey (District 6 Female)**

Apple did not want to use any weapons, so for her private session, she worked only with the poisons shown to her in the training arena. The resource books had been removed, so only the bottled toxins remained. Apple had studied long and hard to remember those poisons, so for her demonstration, she planned to recite the names and effects of each poison. She successfully named each correctly. She did, however, forget several of the effects of the poisons, the methods of injection, and the birthplaces of the poisons. For the number of samples she demonstrated, though, she remembered the majority of the information and relayed the information in a very expository manner.

TRAINING SCORE: 5

Apple knew she wasn't going to be awarded with any kind of outstanding score, but she appreciated the fact the judges were willing to give her a score that might be enough to save her. She smiled and said to Qax, "Wouldn't it have been something if I pulled out an eleven, too?"

Qax just laughed. "Sure would."

"I suppose a five is enough for a woman like me…"

"Actually, they were pretty harsh on you. I mean, I only knew practically two of those poisons. It's not easy to remember all that. You did a good job, Apple."

She smiled at him. She didn't care what score she got as long as there was someone there who cared for her.

**Ricco Hallow (District 7 Male)**

Ricco originally wanted to demonstrate his newfound knowledge of the poison the Quell Drop. Vyxsin, however, had stepped in and tried to dissuade this kind of session. She explained that while the private sessions were meant to show the game-makers each persons most treasured survival skills, these "private" sessions were exceedingly revealing. If Ricco wanted to teach the game-makers about Quell Drop, he'd be doing the same to the twenty-six other tributes. She recommended he keep his mouth shut and keep the secret of the Quell Drop only a two-person one.

Thus, Ricco chose to show off the few fighting skills he had. There was no way, he knew, he'd put up a score equal to that of the careers, so he didn't really mind putting up a private session that would earn him a poor score. For his demonstration, Ricco worked with a knife and a dummy. He slashed and spun and attacked the dummy and, even though the dummy looked utterly mutilated by the time he was done with it, his technique was poor. Everyone could tell; he had no real practice with wielding a knife, so the session turned out to be less than successful.

TRAINING SCORE: 4

"That's sad…" Ricco said matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry about it," Vyxsin said, trying to reassure him. "You, yourself, admitted that you didn't really care how you did. So…don't beat yourself up over it."

Ricco shrugged. "I guess…"

**Vyxsin Esher (District 7 Female)**

After having explored the training room for two days, Vyxsin had definitely established her favorite weapons. The first was, of course, poison. The second—one she found particularly unusual—was the grenade. For whatever reason, she felt that the grenade was a more indirect weapon; after all, she wouldn't need to touch the other person, so the feeling of murder would feel less obvious. So, for her private session, the girl chose to display the few grenade-throwing accuracy skills she had. The stood a given distance from her target and tossed the fake grenade at the mark on the ground. She did the same from various distances. Then she revved up the difficulty: she moved and threw the grenades at the same time, she tried hitting the grenade from behind several obstacles, and she hid behind a wall, picked herself up, and threw the grenade quickly at the spot on the ground. All in all, most of the tributes watching agreed that her performance, while littered with minor mistakes, was rather sound. More important, they all agreed they were shocked with the skill Vyxsin put forth in her private session.

TRAINING SCORE: 6

"Not bad," Ricco said, giving her the credit he felt she deserved. "That wasn't bad at all…"

Vyxsin smiled warmly and said, "Thanks."

"It looks like you're our grenade expert. I hope you…employ those skills in the arena."

"Whatever happens happens, I suppose," the female said nervously. She hoped she didn't get on the radar of any of the careers with her score of six. Surely a score of six was frowned upon, right? In an odd way, she hoped it was.

**Cloud McKnight (District 8 Male)**

Cloud knew this was an important moment for them both. His score would determine precisely how long he survived, and if he didn't put up a score equal to of the careers, he knew he would receive no sponsorships. The demonstration Cloud put forth was very specifically planned out beforehand. In order to do something impressive, he felt he'd need to do something unusual. So, he chose to show his skills…in nearly every single weapon they had at the training room. If time permitted, he planned to show the judges how he could wield a knife, sword, axe, scythe, and club; throw a grenade; use a net and tie some knots; and throw some spears and fling some arrows. He managed to fit all of those and more into his demonstration. Watching from the television, Cloud knew he did well. He performed well—perhaps not excellently—at each weapon, and it seemed the judges were particularly fond of his extreme variety.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Cloud showed a smiled and Terra did the same. They exchanged a friendly hug and commented numerous times on the impressive score he received. "And you're not even a career!" the district eight female said happily. "Cloud, this is…this is great."

"I think this'll be the boost we need to push ourselves past the careers. I think…if you can score the same, we will be able to get rid of the careers with ease." He hoped the two of them were favorites with the sponsors, and if that was true, he knew he and Terra would receive sponsorships without end. He was excited and felt more a protector than ever…

**Terra Celeantra (District 8 Female)**

Terra did what she did best. If she could prove her sword fighting skills to the game-makers and perform as well as she did even on a bad day, she knew she'd be able to put up at least an eight. She started by dancing around the dummy and slashing quickly, but efficiently. She spun and danced her way full-circle around the dummy, and, after so long, had all of the lights in the training room shut off save for the glowing shirt and sword she wielded. The game-makers watched as she continued to strike the dummy equally as expertly in the dark. At the very end, she displayed the quickness at which she could jab with her sword. Her strokes turned into a whirlwind of attacks that struck the dummy dozens of times in just a few seconds. This private session, Terra thought, would certainly be taken appreciatively by the game-makers. She hopes so, at the very least.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

"Wow," Terra said. "Do you realize that our scores…"

Cloud finished her comment, "are the same as the district one scores?" She smiled at him and nodded and he did the same. "We…we can do anything, Terra. We can do this. We can make the Hunger Games be a fair game." Cloud took a few practice swings with an imaginary dagger after getting up. He looked ready and eager.

"Don't get yourself too excited," Terra said as though issuing a warning. "Do not become too aggressive."

Cloud sighed. "You're right. I must calm down. I'll save my strength for the arena…"

**Rave Klipper (District 9 Male)**

Rave felt as though he didn't have very many options for his private session. His skills were limited, as was his breathing. As tiring as knife-fighting was, he knew his skills were half decent. And so, for his demonstration, Rave took up a dagger and began to show off his prowess. First he did some simple technique examples. He flipped the knife around in the air and showed the quick speeds at which he could maneuver himself and the blade. After, Rave went to work on a dummy. He slashed and stabbed and cut the dummy to his stilted breathing, however, it became quite obvious to the game-makers that held very little endurance. After only half of his demonstration, Rave needed to gasp for several breathes; he bent over slightly and slowed his knife fighting down. Overall, though, his skills seemed quite sharpened, and, as long as he could kill a person quickly, he'd have no need to let his oxygen requirements get in his way.

TRAINING SCORE: 6

Hope showed a faint smile and said, "Good job. They should have scored you higher, though."

Rave didn't seem to mind the score he received. "I was tired. They saw it."

"Dear me, do you think they lowered your score due to exhaustion?"

"It's a detriment, isn't it?" He knew he was right. Surely the game-makers wouldn't give someone the score they deserved if they seemed tired and winded. "I don't think I would have scored only a six hadn't I been so tired."

**Hope Pearl (District 9 Female)**

Hope had no desire to show off any kind of skills to the game-makers. In her mind, the private sessions were stupid. She didn't want to run around the training room like some sort of wild animal showing off her talents to people behind a glass wall. The idea just seemed…odd. And besides, she and Thea were hoping to not take any possible sponsorships away from Jape Phisher. The idea was Thea's, yet Hope seemed to have no problem. So, Hope merely demonstrated the way to tie knots. This was something she felt she could perform rather easily, and thanks to Terra's help the previous day, she had learned a few additional techniques that made her tying a little more effective. The demonstration was simple and to the point, and although the concept seemed rather one-dimensional, Hope proved otherwise as she tied several different kinds of knots. She wasn't expecting much, but Hope presumed the judges would probably give her a score slightly lower than Rave's.

TRAINING SCORE: 5

"Good for you," Rave said politely. "That was a lot of knots."

"Yes, dear. I practiced for a long while. I hope there comes a time when I will need to actually use that skill, you know?" She sighed and glanced around uninterestedly. Her mind was wandering, and she didn't seem particularly interested in the score anyone had received. She just wanted to go home. And so, for the remainder of the night, the thought of home danced around her mind. This gave her a drive for survival.

**Torque Detrix (District 10 Male)**

Torque had a specific skill set that he wished to show off to the game-makers that day: his usage of, not swords, but blunt weapons. He preferred the idea of beating someone to a bloody pulp to parrying with a sword. A blunt weapon required less technique, he thought. And so he picked up one of his favorite weapons: the mace. As most tributes did, he positioned a dummy in front of him and went to work. He spent the entire time showing off his talent wielding the spiked weapon. He swung the mace like a baseball bat, reeled it around, and swung down hard on the dummy's face. He looked vicious; all the while, the looked merciless and animalistic as he demolished the dummy in front of him. He felt that the demolished dummy was enough to prove he was a man to fear, yet he was unsure how his training score would go.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

Torque stared at the screen long and hard. Sapphire asked, "Are you mad?" Torque did not respond immediately. When he did, his voice was surprisingly calm and tranquil.

"I don't know." He looked around the room. "I…I think I did a good job. I mean, Lilac and I both got an eight, and she's a career."

"Which is what you want to be."

"Yes, but…" He looked unsure. "I suppose that score isn't worth screaming about."

Sapphire was surprised. She knew Torque was typically a hothead and grew angry over the simplest of things, so his remaining calm during the revelation of the training scores was rather unexpected. She did not complain, however. Besides, she felt his score was good and not worth complaining about, anyway.

**Sapphire Raven (District 10 Female)**

Sapphire had taken Torque up on his suggestion. She had never been a good wielder of weapons, so she felt that direct physical contact was the way to go. Yet another fresh dummy was brought out for this training session, which she attacked viciously and without end. She wasn't sure how something like this would come across with the game-makers, but she didn't care. She really didn't want the other tributes to know she was lacking in weaponry skills, so she figured that by doing this she still looked like a good, strong, and merciless fighter (which she was). Sapphire jumped on the dummy and beat him to a pulp. She rolled around and she bashed at him. Her hands must have been very strong, for she was able to make dents in the dummy rather easily. Her demonstration seemed good, yet she feared the game-makers wanted her to show something a little more…versatile.

TRAINING SCORE: 5

"A five?!" Sapphire roared. "A five? Really? Do those game-makers want me to go beat them up or something? I mean, I bet if I was on top of them beating them dead they wouldn't give me a five." She stood up and walked away. Torque followed her. He seemed disappointed and angry, too.

"This game is rigged!" he screamed. "They only give good scores to careers!" He slammed his fist down and then yelled, "And those two from district eight! Why do they get good scores?! They're obviously just hand-picked favorites!" He thought of Terra and Cloud and (what he felt) their subpar private sessions. "This is cheap."

Sapphire was crying a little. "I don't care what happens. I'm gonna kill someone in that arena, Torque."

**Watch Zayonia (District 11 Male)**

The intelligent male from district eleven knew he had to use to use his brains to prove himself. He had spent a lot of time reading about the various poisonous plants and animals he and his fellow tributes might encounter, so he felt it smart to relay this information. He had a near photographic memory, so displaying his intelligence would be easy, he thought. And so he did. First, he started by describing several of the poisonous animals, what they looked like, and how to fend them off. He described the venom of each animal and described the poisons' antidotes. He explained the plants similarly. When he was done, and after having relayed what he felt was the correct information, Watch thanked the game-makers for listening to his lecture and dismissed himself quickly.

TRAINING SCORE: 9

Watch was rather shocked. He had seen Apple demonstrate something similar earlier on, yet she had scored so poorly. He was overjoyed, yet he failed to show it. Besides, he knew Cilla would want to hear nothing of his great triumph, so he merely kept the excitement to himself.

_They really must have liked the fact I remembered all of the information, _he thought. _Perhaps they know there's a high chance of encountering some of these plants, so my knowledge of them, they knew, would be important._ This thought crossed his mind throughout the remainder of the show.

**Cilla Omala (District 11 Female)**

To get back at losing to Terra in the training room, Cilla knew she had to show off her sword fighting skills to the game-makers. She couldn't let Terra think she was so much better than she was (when Cilla knew she wasn't), so the girl made it her personal goal to best Terra's score in the training event.

It was notable that the two sword fighting styles displayed the females were very different. Terra was quick and stealthy. She could sense someone's presence without actually seeing or feeling it, and she could defend herself expertly. Cilla was different. She was slower, yet tried to pack more punch into each of her swings. If she managed to catch a successful slash, she wanted to know that it would be enough to kill the opponent. She did not want to give her opponent the opportunity to strike back; she wanted them to die without a counterattack. And so, Cilla demonstrated her brutal strikes and slashes. When she was done, the dummy was completely obliterated, even more so than Terra's. The question of whose sword fighting was supreme would get answered in only a few short seconds, and Cilla was on the edge of her sofa watching.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

Cilla muttered something under her breath and held her head in her hands. Watch didn't say a word, but he wanted to. He wanted to congratulate her on a job well done, yet he felt that that would only anger her more. So, he decided to remain quiet.

Cilla didn't, however. "These scores are completely made-up, anyway," she said. "I don't care what score I got," she said sourly. She went to bed that night with a mission: if she wouldn't get the honor of killing Terra, she'd at least like to show off what that eight she received was really made of.

**Jape Phisher (District 12 Male)**

He thought it wise to employ the new tactics September had taught him at the suggestion of Hope and Thea. It seemed, since he was no fighter, he could use what little knowledge of the ball-and-chain he just received to hopefully get a half decent score. He was still unsure and ultimately felt his trying the ball-and-chain would end in failure, but he decided to do it nonetheless. His performance was, surprisingly, rather sound. He had only a little bit of time to learn technique, yet he must have been a fast learner. He seemed to manipulate the weapon with a sense of understanding; he was no master, but it showed he knew what he was doing. Despite several missteps, he seemed to have a good grasp on the weapon, and he employed a particularly useful skill of building of the ball's momentum quickly and lurching the weapon forward. For just a second, Jape had a smidgeon of hope that perhaps this private session would not be an utter failure after all.

TRAINING SCORE: 7

Jape managed a smile and Thea seemed overjoyed. "Jape, that was great."

"I…I will admit I am surprised." He was pleased with himself. He didn't think his newly acquired skill would boost him to the victory, yet he liked the thought that, before his death, he managed to learn something that could have at least given him a fighting chance. "Yet I fear it may not be enough."

"Oh, don't put yourself down like that!" Thea encouraged. "You always do that, and I don't like it. Jape, you and I both know you have a good chance to win this thing. Please, whatever do, always remember that." She sounded earnest and caring. Jape appreciated this and thanked her for her support.

**Thea Maple (District 12 Female)**

Thea had not a clue what to do for her private session. She had no skill with weapons and did not have a good enough memory to try and teach the game-makers about various poisons. So, she felt she was out of luck. As she entered her training session she had no idea what to do. The game-makers eyed her up as she desperately sought out something that could serve as her demonstration. She remembered that Hope was going to try tying knots, so she ignored that station. Instead, she moved over to the camouflage station. She tried camouflaging herself, but seemed to have a difficult time working with all the muds and paints. She grew weary and scared that this was reflecting poorly on the judges, so she ditched the camouflage station almost immediately. She scanned the room for something else to die, and, without giving the thought any more consideration, picked up one of the weapons on the shelf, headed over to a dummy, and began giving it a good whack with her axe. She continued to chop and slice the dummy apart, and even though she had no technique or much strength, she swung anyway. By the time she was done she was tired and embarrassed. The woman from district twelve could only hope this looked good to the game-makers.

TRAINING SCORE: 3

"That's a shame," she muttered. Jape looked at her with a sorry look in his eyes. He didn't say anything but he wanted to tell her that everything would be alright. As it turned out, she didn't need anyone's support. "I don't care, though. I mean, I really didn't think I'd be able to pull out a good score, so…I suppose there's nothing to worry about." She sounded honest. She acted no differently than she normally did.

**Feyot Jasperite (District 13 Male)**

Feyot knew that he wanted to show off his skills with the club, as he had spent two full days practicing and battling other tributes. However, most people did not trust much in his skills and were therefore not expecting much. In his private session, Feyot found a club and began doing battle with a dummy. He made a few good strikes at the dummy, yet the man looked completely off-balance and without technique. His strikes were weak at best and his speed with the club left much to be desired. He didn't seem coordinated and the dummy didn't seem to absorb much of Feyot's strikes. This left many of the game-makers surprised and left a lot of tributes (namely Xion and Fetch) laughing at the man's display. Feyot was not hoping for much, yet he didn't want to score the lowest out of any of the tributes. At least he _tried _to use a weapon.

TRAINING SCORE: 3

Feyot said not a word when he received his score. Neither did Katz. She merely winced and turned away from him. She didn't want to come off as insulting so she didn't say a word. Still, though, she had no idea why the man would have been dumb enough to work with a weapon he could barely use. Why didn't he do camouflage or recite knowledge? Katz pondered this a little while but then stopped as she saw her private session pop up onto the screen.

**Katz Wisp (District 13 Female)**

Katz entered the training room looking rather bored. She maneuvered over to the weapons rack and lazily picked one up. It was a spear. She picked it up and looked for a target. When she found it she hurled the spear forward at surprising speeds and…stuck the spear directly in the bullseye. She looked satisfied and turned back to the weapons rack. She picked up an axe for throwing, moved closer to the target, and threw that. She, once again, stuck it with unexpected accuracy. She did the same once more with a throwing dagger. She stepped far, far away from the target and threw the knife. Like her previous two throws, the dagger stuck and stayed. She nodded, satisfied, turned to the game-makers and smiled (or smirked), and then walked out of the room. That was all she gave in her performance, yet it was a performance worth watching.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Katz smiled to herself as her scored popped up on screen. Feyot nearly fell off the couch as he saw her mastery with the art of throwing, but said not a word. _How could a rich brat like her get so good at using these weapons? Did she do training? _Feyot thought.

"That's what I call a performance," Katz said. "Did you see that perfection?"

Feyot shifted awkwardly. "Why, why yes I did." He mumbled something and looked around the room curiously.

Katz just laughed. "I bet that'll give some people a fright."

**Fetch Zimmer (District 14 Male)**

Fetch was as confident as ever. He knew he had the strength to best any of the players in the game, so for his training session, he chose to show off several of his favorite weapons. He started with a sickle. He jabbed at the dummy and ripped it cleanly open. It seemed so easy. He moved next to a dagger. Again, he displayed brutality and strength and didn't give the dummy a chance. Next, he moved to the throwing axes. He chose to attack the dummy once more and hurled the axes with such speed that the entire mannequin shattered upon impact with the blade. Last, Fetch his physical strength by displaying some of his fist fighting talents. He spun and kicked and punched and laid a beat-down on the dummy, yet he showed no signs of remorse.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

"Ten?!" Fetch roared. "Why a ten? That's it?!" He picked himself up and nearly punched the television screen. September just watched him and looked on condescendingly. She let him finish his rant before she answered his question.

"You displayed strength, yet you failed to show how you would defend yourself if the opponent were advancing on you."

"Defense? I don't need defense!"

"Whatever."

"I don't!" he yelled. "Just because you're a crazy person who kills people for fun and—obviously—mustn't do a good job at it," he pointed to her very wounded leg, assuming the wound had been acquired during one of her attempts at murder, "doesn't mean I need to take advice from you."

September looked at him coldly. "Well then I suppose we shall see how you fare. I hope for your sake your death is clean and quick. And, Fetch, I would suggest you stay away from me in the arena. If I get a hold of you, I'll make sure your death is exactly how you don't want it."

**September Realer (District 14 Female)**

Wielding a ball-and-chain was easy. September made it seem so as she took on her private session. Flawlessly she spun the chain around in her fingers. She attacked the dummy and split it open instantly. Her swing wasn't strong, but she knew the angle and speed at which to swing to give the dummy the greatest impact force. To account for defense, she showed various defensive moves that required her to take few if any steps backward. She needed to keep her leg under the least amount of pressure possible, so she had taught herself how to defend standing still, or how to defend and advance at the same time. She was absolutely vicious. She caught the chain around the dummy's waist and hoisted it to her. Then, she swung the chain back around, shattering what was the dummy's waist. She looked calm and collected as she did this, and when she was done, she drug her leg out of the room behind her as she walked out.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

"Really?" Fetch asked sarcastically. "You beat me?"

September didn't respond. She got up then from the sofa and disappeared from the room. Fetch watched her and groaned. He seemed angry and she seemed, as usual, like a robot. He didn't want to provoke her any more, but he was confident his skills could exceed hers. Besides, she could hardly move. That leg of hers, he knew, would prove to be the ultimate downfall of September…


	10. Feast

**This chapter pretty much marks the end of the pre-game stuff. The next chapter is a short introduction to the games and should probably be uploaded either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. So, there really is only one more chapter before the real games begin! I _really_ can't wait! Don't forget about the tribute poll, either (you have a lot of time to vote, though...I'll probably leave it up for a long time)!**

**ghostleon: Thanks for your review! :) I tried to make a wide variety of scores and include a few surprisingly low or surprisingly high ones. No one got a 12, but there were still three 11s. You'll see just how much the training score will actually help once the games have begun. What with the bloodbath coming soon I hope one of your favorites doesn't die early :o. But, I have already decided which tributes will die in the first chapter of fighting, so we'll see how many of your favorites survive...(anyway, thanks for the review again XD.)**

* * *

**Feast**

* * *

**Katz Wisp (District 13 Female)**

After the night of the training scores the tributes were asked to convene in the dining hall. There, they would spend one evening together as a group and be served dinner. They were welcomed to eat heartily, because the following day was the beginning of the Hunger Games. This might have been the last meal any of the tributes ever ate.

When Katz found the dining hall she noticed it was nearly full. There were twenty-eight chairs lined up and down the length of a big table, which sprawled across the majority of the room. Nearby, servants and avoxes stood ready to serve the tributes at the tributes' whim. They could eat whatever they wanted and with no limit. It would be important to fill themselves up, of course, for food in the arena would be scarce.

Katz Wisp didn't think she had arrived late to the hall, yet it seemed she was one of the last tributes to arrive. Perhaps she had spent too much time beautifying her face, or perhaps her subconsciousness was trying to delay the one thing she feared most: death. And this tribute dinner, as polite and delicious as it may have been, was simply the first stepping stone in their deaths. This gave Katz a shiver; she wasn't ready to die.

The girl took her spot near the head of the table. It seemed like the females were all on one side and the males on the other, yet she had no idea why. Xion was across from her, but he seemed to be completely uninterested in what was going on.

"That was quite a private session," Atlas said. He sat next to Xion. "Katz, you really impressed us."

"Oh, thank you," she said quickly. That was what she was hoping. She knew no one had believed she was capable of dealing any sort of physical damage, so when she demonstrated her excellent usage of ranged weapons, everyone was shocked. "I bet you weren't expecting that."

Atlas admitted he wasn't but remained straight-faced. He looked across the table at Moon and said something quietly to her. Katz wasn't interested at all. When she began to daydream, an unexpected, harsh voice commanded her to do something. "That's _my _seat!" the voice said angrily. "You're seats down there. Our seats are based on our district." Katz had realized this was Lilac, one of her enemies.

"Sorry. I know you have a thing for Xion, so I guess I'll humor you." She stood up and walked away to find her true seat. Lilac just looked flustered, and Xion felt uncomfortable. The two of them quickly regrouped, though, and did what they did best: talk about how they were going to murder Katz.

The other end of the table was not much better. Feyot was hateful, and September and Fetch were both terribly annoying, she thought. Jape and Thea weren't so bad, yet Katz was looking for someone with a little more…sophistication. It was hard being so rich, she realized. She grew overly picky of the people she talked with.

"Katz," Thea said. "I didn't know you were so handy with your weaponry. May I ask where you acquired such skills?"

Katz shrugged. "I have a lot of free time, I guess."

"A girl with a lot of free time takes up axe throwing?" Thea sounded very skeptical. "Whatever your interests are, I suppose…" The lady turned away and rose her eyebrows at Jape, who returned her look by shrugging.

Katz wasn't about to respond, and as it turned out she really didn't need to. The food was being served and so everyone dropped their conversations for a moment to eat the last meal they could possibly enjoy. And for the majority of them, they weren't really enjoying it, anyway.

The feast was quite astounding, however. They was a large, stuffed turkey with mashed potatoes and vegetables. There were several types of pasta and appetizers, and there was enough food to keep everyone eating for weeks. There was desert for afterwards, which consisted of cookies and cakes and sweets and other delicacies. It was truly a sight to behold, and had one not known the twenty-eight were participating in a Hunger Games, one might have thought this feast a component in a luxurious house party. However, that was not the case. This feast, great as it was, was no compensation for the suffering twenty-eight people would have to endure.

What was even worse was that many people had lost their appetites. With the games the following day, some of the less ambitious players had been too anxious to eat very much.

Katz was eating much, though. She knew that she needed to. Even though she really wasn't very hungry, she knew she couldn't go to bed on an empty stomach. She decided she wasn't as stupid as Fox, Hope, or Feyot: she planned to eat to fill herself up. Only in a few days would those three feel the effects of not filling themselves up. And besides, Katz didn't even know if there would be time for breakfast the following morning. This truly might have been the last thing anyone ever ate…

**Axem Jades (District 5 Male)**

Axem sat between Stark and Qax. Stark was one of his allies, so he felt he was lucky for being there. At that moment the career was in a conversation with Angel about something else, so Axem merely looked away and watched some of the other tributes. It was so interesting, he thought, watching his prey.

There were several people who stood out. There was Fox, for one. She constantly kept her head down and looking at the plate. She glanced up only a little bit to watch some of the others, but when she did, she looked anxious and nervous. She typically glanced back down almost immediately. He noticed she ate slowly and often took long breaks in between a single bite. She didn't seem happy and she didn't seem ready.

Cloud and Terra looked to be in an intense discussion, as always. Cloud seemed hyped up on something (probably the thought of driving a sword into a career's heart) and Terra, as usual, was trying to calm him down. The two Axem respected, yet he noticed flaws in there plans: how could two people take on six careers?

He turned the other way and saw Atlas and Moon. Atlas had always seemed so perfect to him. Xion was likely stronger, but Atlas was smarter. The two, Axem knew, would probably two of the last tributes remaining. And then there was Moon. She was like a wild card, he felt. She wasn't as much of a loose cannon as Lilac was, but she definitely had her oddities. He had even heard she had this strange need to best all of the other females, so he felt that maybe this compulsion would be her downfall.

"I don't know if anyone cares…" Axem was out of his trance when he heard someone's voice speaking loudly. It was Apple, he saw. She looked depressed and had a few tears streaming down her face. "But this is the last night some of us will be alive. I just thought that maybe someone would like to say a few words, or," She paused. "I thought we would like to say something as a group. Instead of talking amongst each other."

There was a strange silence that settled over the room. Apple was depressed and unhappy and everyone could tell. Axem realized what she was saying was true: even though everyone would try to kill each other, they weren't enemies. They could talk. They didn't have to fear each other yet.

"I would just like to say I don't think this is fair, but I wish you all good luck, anyway." It was Axem who spoke. All eyes went to him, and the silence ensued one more afterward. He looked down at his plate and sighed.

"For our children and for our husbands and wives and friends and family, I want to say that I hope we all die honorably. And I hope…" This time it was Hope who was speaking. "we can forgive each other in our afterlives."

Everyone felt so awkward. They weren't sure if this was the right thing to be doing. Axem, for one, felt particularly depressed by this. For once he felt he was beginning to make a connection with these people. This was bad, though. He knew he couldn't feel bad for these people, as much as he wanted to. He needed to focus on the game…

"I don't know what's gonna happen." Ricco took the podium now. "But all I can say is that I hope the victor can still live in peace. I…I want to say that I won't hate the person who…" He shuttered at the thought. "Kills me. I want to say to the victor that I hope they can continue to live their life in…happiness."

"As do I," Vyxsin agreed.

For a second, no one said anything. It seemed that everyone was either too emotional or surprised to continue speaking. A few people had tears in their eyes. When it seemed the conversation was over, someone else spoke up. "And I hope the victor…" No one had thought Fox would have spoken, but she did. Everyone hung on all of her words. "Wins by being truthful." She wanted them to be truthful. Truthful? Some of them pondered this. Was it possible to be truthful when you were murdering people for your own survival? Some thought it was. _You don't have to be deceitful to do murder_, Axem knew.

**Sapphire Raven (District 10 Female)**

The feast was over and the tributes were encouraged to spend the remaining time they had with each other. There was a large common room on the ground floor where several people had gathered to. Some stayed to finish eating while others chose not to take part communicating with the others. There were no more group discussions, though. Most people were in game-mode and were talking about strategies with their coalition members. The tributes were thankful for this, actually. It seemed like the encouragement to talk as a group would have been a ploy to get the tributes more attached to each other before they had to kill. So, the tributes steered clear of this.

Sapphire was bored. She had watched Torque disappear from the dining room to the common room. He claimed he was going to "recruit some more careers", yet as far as she had counted, he had made friends with none of them. This didn't bother her, though. She was never really a fan of the careers, nor did she want to become one of them. She merely lusted to kill. It didn't matter whom, yet it mattered that it happened. She did not know where this lust came from, but she figured it was related to the dozen plus years of hunger games training she had.

If only she were as good at building bombs as Lilac was, or if she were as good at knife-throwing as Moon was. She sighed. Then, she knew, she'd be able to win. And that's all she wanted. But until then, she figured she ought to go find Torque and see what he was up to. So, she pushed herself out from her seat, stood up, and made toward the door.

In the common room did not stand her district ten partner. There were other tributes there, for sure, but Torque was not one of them. She sighed and turned up the hall; perhaps he was in one of these other rooms.

_Thhhump._

Sapphire heard a mysterious noise echoing from around the bend of the hall. She slowed her pace, because for whatever reason, the noise sounded…unsettling. She continued forward until she heard again: _thhhump._

Something felt odd. She wasn't sure what, but something did. _Thhhump._ She grew nervous. She wondered if she'd feel this way in the arena. _Thhhump._

It was around the bend. That noise was coming. It sounded like it was coming for her. It sounded like it could get her. She rounded the bend quickly…

_Thhhump._

"Oh!" Sapphire said, colliding into September. The females both staggered a little bit, but neither fell over. September didn't seem to mind, and after a few seconds Sapphire realized the source of that noise: September's leg that she needed to drag behind her. Sapphire sighed a sigh of pure relief; she didn't know why she had felt so nervous, but she had. "I'm…I'm sorry about that." Sapphire went to move but September stopped her. What happened next Sapphire could hardly believe.

**Ricco Hallow (District 7 Male)**

"—And so they think I can't do anything with my life. They think I just want to be a nobody. But I don't. I don't understand why they couldn't listen to what I was saying. They think that since I don't want to become a carpenter like them I was worthless. A _carpenter_!"

"What _do_ you like to do?" Ricco asked his district female partner. As talkative and giddy as he usual was, he and she both noticed he was quite calm and good at listening to Vyxsin.

"I like…to draw. I love it, I—"

"There's gotta be _some _kinda art-related job in district seven. I mean, you can…you can become a…" He trailed off. Other than an artist or graphics designer of sorts, there were few jobs in district seven that made use of an artist's abilities.

"There's nothing," she said, sighing. "But let's not worry about it." She began to tear up. "Because…there may not be anything to come back to." The thought put her mind into a frenzy. Ricco was there for her, as he always was. It was odd, those two. Vyxsin opened up to few people and Ricco calmed down to few people. They weren't going to be the next romantic couple in the hunger games, but they surely were going to be great friends, they thought.

"And…you said you had a little sister," Ricco said quickly. "Does she…want to go into the family business as well?"

Vyxsin shrugged. "No, but she doesn't complain about it like I do." Ricco didn't know how to respond. He felt as though he were treading on light water. He turned his head to glance around the room, and by the time he turned back, Vyxsin was already asking him a question. "What about your family?"

"My…" Ricco turned. He didn't seem happy. He didn't seem angry, either. He simply sounded depressed at the thought of his family. He began to recollect to many years ago, before he could remember the horrible things that happened to him, his wife, and his children. "I lost…you see, I lost both of my children—"

"What?" Vyxsin asked, serious. "That's terrible." She teared up a little bit at the thought. She then began thinking about what it would be like to have children of her own, and concluded it would be great. But…to have them taken away from you…it almost made the thought of having them in the first place not worth it. She couldn't bare to see someone lose a child. "What happened?" Ricco didn't respond quickly, so she said, "I'm sorry. I—"

"No," Ricco said. "It's okay. You see…" He paused. "The first one…" But he couldn't finish. He kept trying to find the words but it only ended in sputtered and fragmented phrases. He jumbled his words around a little bit and finally became so exhausted he couldn't even speak. Vyxsin understood and gave him her permission to forget about her question. Ricco did, yet the thought still lingered on his mind. He said after, "But my wife. Well, she had a tough life, too."

Vyxsin remembered the story about his wife; she had been in a car accident and was paralyzed severely as a result. Ricco, she realized, was probably one of the only people she had left. They had no children to watch after her, and whether her parents were alive and able to tend to her was beyond Vyxsin's knowledge. But even so, she knew his wife needed him more than anybody. "For your sake," Vyxsin said sadly, "I really hope you can win this thing."

Neither of them said a word. They had at first wanted to talk about their strategy in the games, but then their conversation had detoured, and now the games became a determent from discussion. Vyxsin thought of her own parents, and then of her sister. She loved them all and would give anything to get back home to them, even if it meant continuous nagging and lectures from her parents. Ricco, too, needed to survive. She felt so bad for his story that she could only wonder if there was a way to make it to the end of the 201st Annual Hunger Games…

**Watch Zayonia (District 11 Male)**

"So," Watch said to his alliance partner Rave, "what do think you our strategy should be."

"You've got the brains," Rave said. "You can figure it out."

That was true, they both knew. The two were in the common room and were discussing some plans for the games. Rave was the fighter in the group and Watch the strategist. They hoped their combo would work nicely in their favor.

Watch said, "I always tell my son to trust the mind. Rave, I want to do the same for you. I want you to be able to help me. What if I die? What if we split up? You will need to be able to get out of a situation, yourself." The man from district nine let Watch go on. "So, you should learn about the poisonous plants and animals and t—"

"But," Rave said. "Isn't it a tad late?"

"It's never too late to teach yourself something," Watch said. "But…perhaps we should consider something else. We need to talk about survival strategies. I think that will help the both of us." He paused and took in a deep breath. He felt the cold air in the room and shivered. "If it's cold, don't build a fire."

"No," Rave said, "I would never." He knew it was too risky.

"There must be water in the arena…" Watch continued, "so you should look for signs of where it might be. There must be a pond somewhere. Besides, animals need to drink, too. Follow them." He thought about what else he might need to explain. "And if someone stronger than you tries to fight, just run." But then he realized something. "But you have bad breathing, so…"

"So I can't really run," Rave said. "So I gotta figure out another way to survive. I guess I'll just have to fight them to death." Watch admitted this was probably his only was out, but he argued that depending on the situation, an escape route may arise.

"I know about a lot of poisons," Watch said. "We could use these."

"To poison someone."

"But we can't do it obviously. It's not easy to poison someone, and most poisons need to be consumed. Unless we possess one of the rare poisons that can inject itself through contact with the skin, it's safe to say we'll need to break into someone's water supply and insert the poison into their drinks." Watch wasn't sure how easy this would be in the actual arena, but he figured it was worth a shot.

Rave said, "And when we're not poisoning people, we can fight them with weapons."

"Yes, but…" Watch seemed unsure. "I am no fighter. You must do all the fighting. And with your breathing, you must make sure you'll be able to kill the person. Because remember: once you start a fight, you can't run from it."

Rave shuddered at the thought. "I know," he said. "I know…" He seemed nervous and just the thought was making him begin to panic. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to take this kind of pressure…

Watch recognized his partner's warriness. He wanted to console him, but he felt that telling him things would be alright was a huge lie. Besides, Watch was scared, too. He didn't want to show it, for he did not want his children to know of his fright when and if they saw him on the television. He needed to be strong, for himself and for his family. This, right here, would be the ultimate display and test to see whether Watch Zayonia truly wasn't the coward he was typically called.

**Thea Maple (District 12 Female)**

Thea and Hope were talking idly between each other. Jape had gone to bed (for he'd need his strength in the morning, he said) and left the two ladies awake to reminisce one last time before one or both of their deaths. Both ladies had been particularly weepy all day (especially Hope, who was the more emotional one of the two) and so didn't really care about getting to bed. Besides, they knew they wouldn't be able to sleep at all, anyway.

The two were in the middle of a conversation…"You see, things aren't necessarily _happy _where I come from, but they're not sad, either. District twelve is a good place; district one gets too babied by the Capitol, anyway." Thea was ranting a little about the districts and what she felt was unfair treatment given to the career districts.

But Hope wasn't listening. She _was_, but not attentively. She sat absentmindedly, thinking of one other thing. Thea saw her disinterest in the subject and so let the topic die. The two sat together for a short moment before Hope said, "You know…it really isn't fair."

"The…Hunger Games?"

Hope nodded. "Why did it have to be me? Or you? Or anyone else? Why does it have to happen at all? The Hunger Games have went from proving a point to the districts to becoming a sporting event. I mean, does the Captiol really need this?"

Thea wondered that, too. And besides, weren't the Hunger Games supposed to be about the sacrifice of children? She didn't like the sound of that any more than she did the sound of killing adults, but still. Why did the Capitol change its ways? "It's not fair…"

"And now," Hope continued, "I'll never be able to see my family again. I wouldn't be able to survive without my husband, and I know he won't be able to survive without me. And my children…and my grandson…"

The sound of Hope's family made Thea's heart flutter. The sound of family was…happy. She had never really known much of a family, because her husband had passed before they even had the chance to have children. A second marriage was out of the question. Perhaps it was for the better, though. After all, Thea really had no one to lose other than friends and more distant relatives. Hope had everyone in her family. "I feel even worse."

"Why, dear?"

"Because," Thea continued, "it's not fair for you to die. I…don't let me last longer than you do, Hope. You and Jape, make sure you two survive as long as you can. If I'm dying, let me go. You two need to survive."

Hope looked shocked. Never, she thought, would someone be so willing to just give their life up. But Thea had a cause, and she planned to live up to it honorably. Hope pondered this sacrificial statement. "Thea…I…I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Why," she said and paused, "do you have such a close relationship to Jape? I mean, were you friends with him back in your district?"

Thea smiled. "No," she said. Then her smile dwindled as she said, "But…I always thought of him like the son I never had. I mean, he's nice to me, he's friendly, and he doesn't deserve to die. Besides, I'm old enough to be his mother…" She began to start talking insensibly. Hope felt bad for her.

"Thea…you need someone close to you, don't you?" Hope asked. She knew it was the truth for sure. Thea had never known a family, and so found friends and family in those she met elsewhere. This Jape must've fit the sort of person Thea w anted to associate herself with. "You need a family. Well, dearie, let me say that I'll be here for you." And then she thought for a second. "And I know Jape will be, too."

Thea seemed flattered and sad. She had met some great people along her journey of the Hunger Games and she hated to lose them so quickly. Both of them could have been dead by the following day…

Thea said, "I know…" She glanced at the ceiling. "But still…you don't need to worry about me. Please…" She buried her face in her hands and sighed for a long time. She tried not to become so connected to the other tributes, but she couldn't. She always looked for friends and people to talk to, and so she found them. In a game of death, though, she feared they wouldn't last very long at all…

**Torque Detrix (District 10 Male)**

_Where is Sapphire?_ Torque wondered. _I left her in the dining hall, and now…where did she go? I wanted to ask her if she managed to recruit any careers, but…_

Torque was waiting very impatiently in the living room of his and Sapphire's floor. He wanted more than anything to see if his partner had managed to recruit a career, but it didn't seem like she was anywhere to be found. He took the time to reflect upon what had happened that night; he was unsuccessful managing to recruit Fetch, but that, he figured, was mainly because Fetch was already in an alliance with Angel, who had already refused him before. Atlas simply said no, but gave no reason. The others, Torque figured, were beneath him. He didn't really want to break into Xion's and Lilac's notable "relationship", and tributes from districts one, four, and fourteen had already refused his offers.

"Stupid careers," he muttered. He would have given anything to be one of them, but for whatever reason they seemed to want no part of his skills. Their loss, of course. And besides, they were probably just scared of him.

Before Torque could ponder the matter any more, Sapphire knocked and the door and opened it. She saw Torque in the room looking unhappy, but her giddiness seemed to swamp whatever sad emotions he was displaying. She said, "How did the career-recruiting go?"

"It didn't," he said. "They all refused."

"Well…that's not good," she said, sounding like to wanted to say something else. She stood there and waited for him to reply.

"Of course it isn't," he spat, turning away and glancing around the room.

"Well, you'd be happy to know that _I _managed to recruit someone."

"You did?"

"Yes, I did."

"Who?!" Torque wondered, his tone more happy. He stood up and walked over to her. "Who?"

"September."

"What?" he asked. "September?"

"Yes, September. What's wrong with September?"

"Haven't you seen her?" Torque asked. "She's…freaky. And besides, she's so crazy she'd kill us both. I wouldn't trust her if I were—"

"Why, Torque?" Sapphire wondered. "I mean, we've seen her throw and use a ball-and-chain. She's…unstoppable."

Torque laughed a condescending laugh. "Sapphire, that's exactly what I'm trying to get across. We shouldn't team up with her."

"But why, Torque? I thought you wanted to be part of the careers?" Of course, district fourteen wasn't a true career tribute, but it was close enough. Torque had considered them careers for a long while anyway.

"I don't…I don't like her."

"Why?"

Torque didn't seem happy by his friend's inflexibility. "Haven't you seen her? For one, she has that look in her eye. Also, she's murdered people. I know I've murdered people too, but the people I murdered weren't part of my family! I mean, she truly murdered people!"

"Any other reasons?"

"Yeah. Have you seen that leg? She moves about five feet in five seconds! We can't have someone like that slow us down! I mean, seriously Sapphire, we need to think about this. I mean, we'll hardly be able to get anywhere. She's a detriment." He shuddered at the thought of being stuck somewhere because September was too slow. He sighed.

"But she's strong. And she's smart, I think. I mean, haven't you seen her fight, though?" She sounded angry. "And who cares if she's killed someone? I don't care! I mean, don't you want to survive?"

"Survive? You call that surviving?" He shut his eyes and walked away.

"Yes, I do," she said, walking to her bedroom. She slammed the door and didn't come out again that night. Torque didn't mind, though. She was always very headstrong and never seemed to learn. But he knew September would be a detriment. One simply had to see the woman walk to know she was just luring them into a trap. And it truly would be a perfect trap, too.

Torque went to his room right after that. He couldn't fall asleep, for he kept thinking about September. He knew something about that lady was off. He knew he couldn't trust her. He sighed.

When he couldn't fall asleep for over an hour, Torque went to his closet and pulled out the thing that always seemed to be missing from his life. He found that binder of the four people he had murdered. This thought seemed to calm him down. He didn't know why, but he had that same lust for murder Sapphire had. As he paged through the binder, he put a new name and face to each of the four people. "There's Raz," he laughed. "That fool. And there's Watch. He's too smart for his own head. And…" he said, "there's Angel. I hate you, Angel." He turned to the last page. "And there you are, September. I can't wait to kill you."


	11. Final Words

**Here's the last chapter before the 201st Hunger Games begin! This chapter is short and wraps up most of the characters' final thoughts. After this is the first chapter of the actual game. That'll probably be posted in a few days, for I'm working on it now. Can't wait 'til the action starts.**

**Anyway, this is it. This concludes the introduction sequence of The 201st Hunger Games: Roof of the Reaper.**

* * *

**Final Words**

* * *

It was the morning of the Hunger Games. The tributes were all getting ready to take their final bow while President Jayce was preparing herself for a television announcement. The tributes didn't have time to watch her speech, but most of them didn't want to. They didn't want to hear her rant once more about how the Hunger Games had been introduced as a means of silencing the rebellion.

"Panem, today we embark on an adventure: the 201st Annual Hunger Games. This is a monumental year, for this marks the beginning of a new century of Hunger Games. And so, our game-makers have been hard at work for this very moment. But now, all of the hard work we had to endure is over; and now, the games may begin.

"After the games are over there will be twenty-seven losers and one winner. Families of the losers, as I have explained before, should not worry, though. They should not feel defeated or without hope. I will say this: if you lose a loved one to the Hunger Games, I want you to know their death was not in vain. So, let us be happy and excited and sit back and watch the games for enjoyment and entertainment.

"We have seen these tributes mature and grow up over the past few short days. We have seen them train for two hard days and we have seen them grudgingly work through their private sessions. We have seen them form alliances and friends. They've received training scores and are already striking chords with some of the watchers. Now, all of this pre-game work will pay off. And the tribute who took advantage of this the best will become the victor of the 201st Annual Hunger Games!

"To the sponsors, I will say that our game-makers have added even more trinkets and gadgets and safety packs than ever. You may purchase water and ointments and bandages and even weapons for our tributes. The cost is high, but the life of a tribute can be even higher; you may be the very person who saves a person from death. We implore our sponsors to take part in the sponsorship part of the game to add even more chaos to this already exciting event.

"In but one hour, this event will begin! Stay tuned to your televisions, Panem. Your sons and your daughters, or your fathers and mothers will fight valiantly today and during the days to come. Do not watch with your hands over your eyes. Watch with them over your mouth as you stare in awe and wonder at the game known as the Hunger Games. Only you, the people, are able to make this day possible, and the Capitol, from the bottom of its heart, would like to thank you for your sacrifices. Now, if we can all gather around and stay tuned in for the length of the Hunger Games, the tributes would really appreciate it. The tributes will want you watching. And now, without further ado, let us take you to Caesar who will display the tributes' final words in front of the whole of Panem."

**Caesar: Thank you, President Jayce. Now, let us see just what our tributes said to our final interview question!**

_**Caesar: Tell to everyone your final words.**_

_**Raz: I don't want to die yet. I have an entire life in front of me that I have not yet lived. In the Hunger Games, my fate is written: I cannot win. In life, things are always popping up and surprising you. You never know what's going to happen. But in the Capitol's game, which stifles the true essence of life completely, we know one of the overpowered careers will win. This takes away from the mystery, if you ask me. **_

_**Sapphire: I think you're gonna see a lot of blood in these games. I've seen the training room; I know some people hate each other. But I don't care about them. They don't want to win as much as I do. I know that for a fact. I'm coming home to my sister and to district ten alive! **_

_**Hope: My death will be easy. I know it. And I know I will die, too. But I don't care. A quick death is nothing to complain about; but back home, my grandson lies sick in bed. That is true suffering. And living with the fact that a loved one has died? That's even truer suffering. I don't feel bad for myself. I feel bad for my grandson and my children and my husband and all the people who will forever be ruined by these games.**_

_**Feyot: Twenty-seven lives will be ruined. Twenty-seven doesn't feel like such a big number at first. There are only twenty-**_**six**_** letters in the alphabet, and you can name those in about five seconds. But these people are worth more than five seconds. I hope we are remembered forever, and not just considered another player who wasn't able to win it all.**_

_**Angel: People are fickle, and those who aren't careers are even more fickle. They have no plan, but ten that are constantly changing. If that's the way you play the game, you will lose. So I have a strategy, and one that will take me to be the very last victor: consistency. Consistency is one of the only things a person can really fall back on with trust.**_

_**Cilla: I have a two year old son and no husband. How exactly can I lose without my son feeling abandoned for the rest of his life? I can't leave him; he'd have to go to an orphanage, and that's not fair. I expect the Capitol to reimburse the life he could've had if I don't come out of this thing alive.**_

_**Xion: Life can end quickly. You could get your bones smashed by someone's powerful hands. It only takes a quick twist. Or you can get knifed in the heart. Or you can fall off a cliff. It only takes one little thing to finish someone off so quickly. It's almost sad. But in the Hunger Games, this is the kind of thing you must know. And you must be willing to accept it. **_

_**Katz: How can you call someone a friend if there can only be one victor? The answer is simple: you can't. The only people you can call your friends are the sponsors. They're the ones who care about you. They're the ones who'll save you if you're dying. Another tribute? They'll forget about you. And they'll leave you out to rot without even having the decency to finish you off themselves.**_

_**Jape: You can't win the Hunger Games. Even the winner is a loser. How can you survive with your conscious after you have murdered a person? That's why this has me so depressed. Knowing that you're going to lose leaves no room for excitement or determination. Do I care about winning? I hardly do, because I can't.**_

_**Apple: The Hunger Games aren't only going to ruin twenty-seven lives. They'll ruin the families' lives, too. They'll ruin the lives of thousands of people. And yet the Captiol suggests we are supposed to accept someone's death with happiness? I don't believe that. Trust me: I speak from experience.**_

_**Spade: When playing the Hunger Games you must not be aggressive. You must be smart. It would be wise to wait in the shadows instead of jumping into battle. And when you do just out of the shadows, you must know you can deliver the final blow. Killing takes patience. If you lack that, you lack common sense. And if you lack common sense, you are easy prey. **_

_**Ricco: When you're in the arena you must let the adrenaline rush over you. If you let your mind do the talking, you'll drive yourself insane. You must think about your family. You must think about those you love and try your very hardest to get back to them. There can only be one winner, which is unfair. But when you love someone so much you'll die for them, the other person will love you so much they don't **_**want **_**you to die.**_

_**Torque: I've killed before. I know what it is like to watch a person die. I've seen the life fade from someone's eyes. To play this game you must be willing to accept seeing this. And when it's all over, and when you win, you must be able to say that killing those people was not a bad thing. Only when you know that will you be able to win the Hunger Games.**_

_**Watch: The brain must be used in the right way. It can be a detriment, for it is the gateway to anxiety. But if used correctly, a person can use their brain to lead them to victory. Intelligence is just one key factor. Trust is another. More important, realization and knowing how to live in the moment and not worry about the future is critical…**_

_**Cloud: This game has great faults that I will dedicate myself to correct. No one deserves to die at the hand of someone who's been training to murder their whole life. People are diverse; they are not all fighters. So, shouldn't the Capitol only put fighters into this game? Shouldn't the Capitol see that in this world exist painters and architects and researchers, too? Putting people unable or unwilling to fight into the arena is a crime.**_

_**Fox: There is no shame in hiding and not fighting. A person cannot be expected to become a trained killer, even if their life depended on it. I know I can't…and…I know that a lot of people here can't, even if they think they can. It doesn't make sense…why can't everyone just agree not to fight?**_

_**September: A person doesn't know what true death is until they have experienced it. Until they've seen someone twist and contort and struggle to free themselves of the knife sticking in their stomach, or the grasp their murderer has on them while they are being torn apart. These people are ignorant. People who are ignorant must be taught what they don't already know.**_

_**Qax: Positivity. Positivity is what can get a person through the kind of thing they normally couldn't. You need to think of family or of friends. You need to think of playing ball in the backyard or eating dinner with your neighbors. These seemingly insignificant things bring a lot of joy to a person. You are not dead until you truly are.**_

_**Vyxsin: There's one thing that most people don't realize: more than one person can win. It's simple not to kill a person. So, there doesn't need to be as much bloodshed if people are just killing to not murder each other. It's really as simple as that. I'm so happy my eyes were opened to this truth.**_

_**Stark: You don't need to be the strongest career to win. You don't even need to be a career. Anyone, really, can probably win this game. It seems that this is the biggest fault of a career: they assume one of them is going to win. I don't, however. Really, anything can happen and it's not up to me to say what will and won't take place in that arena.**_

_**Lilac: People say they won't kill because they don't think they can. But, speaking from a lot of personal experience, I will say that killing someone is easier than loving someone. People have so many faults; why would someone want to live with an imperfect person? I sure don't, so killing a person is like taking out the garbage.**_

_**Rave: Fear is the strongest thing in the world. It's stronger than any of the careers are, because fear is what can make a person who's wielded a bow and arrow all their life slip up and lose the whole game. A person must keep their stress under control. If they can do that, they can at least give themselves a shot. **_

_**Fetch: How can someone know they're going to win if they've never seen the arena? If someone's good at something but the arena doesn't offer it, then how can a person win? They can't. What if they're not used to the snow and there's a lot of it in the arena? Only a person who can handle anything can win this. Spending years in prison has introduced me to the worst of the worst of things.**_

_**Terra: When people are strong-willed, they can do almost anything. Yes, they can beat careers. They can fight two or three or four people at once. When they have the mindset, they can do anything they want. I believe these people just need to find out that they have a lot more strength than they've ever known.**_

_**Axem: If people want to survive, they must be able to fight back. They mustn't fight back at each other, but at the Capitol. The people I kill in the arena are not my enemies. They are merely innocent souls who fell into the Capitol's trap. I feel bad for them. My future self will probably feel bad for me, too.**_

_**Moon: A person cannot ruin themselves over the Hunger Games. It is, as the title implies, only a game. And games must not be taken too seriously, or else the player will drive themselves insane. Death is merely a step in a person's life; it's not the end of it. It just happens that death is the penalty for losing in this little game.**_

_**Thea: A person needs someone to love them. Without love, a person is nothing. So, I know that even though I have no family to go back to, I can make a family here, in these games, out of the innocent and friendly players I have met. The game is unfair, yes. But, it also has healed me. I have so selfish bone left in my body. I just want to meet someone as level-headed as a person should be.**_

_**Atlas: Some people have strength, while others have speed. Some have intelligence, too. A true winner is one who can combine all of these aspects and more. I know the games will be tough, but one must never forget that a person can do amazing things if they are determined. If they're lucky enough, they'll be able to figure out how to cure themselves of insanity long before the others do the same…**_


	12. Day 1 - Afternoon

**Alright, here we go! The first chapter of the actual games is up and I am happy to present it to you. First of all, I'd like to say that this chapter is really, really long and that most chapters to come won't be this long. It's just that because this is the first chapter of the games I wrote a lot for the beginning. Anyway, I'd like to thank you for supporting and reading this and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

**guest: Thanks for the review. Indeed, here you will find out when everyone dies and in what order soon enough. This chapter will feature many of the first deaths of the game. So let's see how this turns out... :)**

* * *

**Day 1 - Afternoon**

* * *

**Spade Bex (District 3 Female)**

What would it look like? What would the arena look like? This thought plagued Spade's mind as she stepped into the glass bubble that would soon transport her upward and into the arena. She hoped there would be plenty of trees. If there were many, she'd be able to hunt with much more ease. It would be like at home, when she could hunt for fun with her brother. Now…it was not like that quite so much. But despite that, Spade tried her best to treat this as any other day.

The panel on which Spade was standing would soon begin its vertical climb. And then, when it reached the top…the games would begin. Everything they had spent worrying over the past few days would finally become a reality. Spade was sweating a lot through her suit. As she waited on the panel her hands began to go numb. She wasn't sure if she was nervous, but this sure made her feel all that more tense.

The glass dome began to rise around her. She would be sealed in glass throughout the climb, but then it would disappear at the start of the game. Spade couldn't keep her mind on one thing. She went from thinking about the arena, to hunting back home, to the situation at hand, to hunting with her brother, to her asleep hands. She shook them both and waited until they regained their sense of consciousness.

She was ready, though. She decided it. She was ready to fight. First, though, she'd need to find a weapon. There was always talk of a grand cornucopia in the Hunger Games that presented the players with weapons and water and all other sorts of survival supplies. The cornucopia was always located in the middle of the players at the start, and was there to tempt some players into making a run for the large golden colossus to collect some supplies. Of course, this was dangerous. Standing there, Spade's mind went from running to gaining supplies and then back to running. She didn't know what to do. Going to the cornucopia would be risky, for sure. That's always been where the most people die: at the beginning during the initial run at the cornucopia. This would be a bloodbath, Spade thought.

She felt the vertical climb start to take effect and, soon enough, she was surrounded by black as she continued rising. She wanted to stand on her tip-toes to see the arena as it came into view. Soon…

She stared at the top part of her glass bubble and watched and waited. She wanted to see the first thing that came into view. She hoped it would be trees. A lot of trees.

Ever so slowly did the glass tube creep upward. She waited impatiently and looked all around her. Nothing came into view yet. She began to sweat and tense up. This was it. This was finally it. She was ready, she thought. Black continued to surround her. She waited and waited and waited.

But then, she stopped. She had reached her destination. But…everything was black.

She peered around. She couldn't see anyone, for she could see nothing. She coughed quietly to herself and tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness. It was no use, however. Wherever she was there was no light whatsoever. Spade grew confused. Was this the arena? An all-black arena?

Again she waited. What was going on?

_Clack! _The lights were turned on, and in all but a nanosecond Spade saw everything in her location. She was as surprised as any of the other twenty-seven tributes around her. She…was in a room. She wasn't outside, as she had suspected they would have been. They were inside…

And in the middle of where they twenty-eight tributes formed a circle was the cornucopia. Spade peered around. The other tributes seemed to be looking at the arena. She watched them.

Then she took it upon herself to examine the arena as well from inside her bubble. The floors were wooden and they appeared to be on the second floor of this building; she could see they were on some sort of indoor balcony that overlooked the foyer below. In front of her was a grand staircase that led down to the foyer area. Judging from the two rooms she saw, this building must've been very, very large. It was also exquisitely furnished. Spade didn't know what to think. Was the entire arena indoors? Were they…in a house?

"_Welcome tributes." _A voice said over the loudspeaker. _"The games will begin now, so may the odds be ever in your favor."_

"_10…"_

Spade's glass bubble began to slowly sink into the floor. There were only ten seconds left until twenty-eight people could kill each other. She shuddered and wanted to run right then. The glass bubble continued to fall.

"_9…"_

There was Raz on one side of her and Stark on the other. She knew Raz wouldn't be a problem, but Stark was a career. She was afraid of him and knew better than to run alongside him to the cornucopia. She thought, perhaps, she could fall back and wait until he reached it, first.

"_8…"_

But wait…did she even want to run to the cornucopia at all? That would be risky. She wasn't sure she was ready to risk her life so quickly.

"_7…"_

But she needed supplies. How would she survive without supplies? She likely wasn't going to get sponsored, so without grabbing a water bottle or two she felt there was little hope for her survival.

"_6…"_

Then again, she _was_ in a house. There would probably some sort of water she could find inside. Or perhaps the game-makers were smart enough to turn off all the water in the house. But anyway, there might have been a backyard or something. Maybe there was a lake.

"_5…"_

She did need a bow and arrow, though. Without those, how could she ever hope to fight? Those would save her for sure. Her mind was racing as she contemplated whether or not to make a run for it…

"_4…"_

She should leave. Running to the cornucopia would be too risky.

"_3…"_

But she couldn't survive without a weapon. She needed to go for it.

"_2…"_

Or perhaps run away?

"_1…"_

Or risk it?!

"_GO!"_

In a whirlwind of events Spade realized her glass bubble had disappeared and the game had begun. She scrambled off her platform and analyzed the scene before her. Several people were making a run for the cornucopia. There was Stark on her left, who was running with Angel. Those two had just reached the cornucopia when she had only taken a few steps. She tried to peer into the large golden structure to see what kind of weapons lie there. She could see nothing, however.

She panicked and made a run for it. She saw Fetch lift himself to the top of the cornucopia holding a knife and a backpack. Atlas was near him and he made a slash, but narrowly missed. He lost his footing a little bit and stumbled on top of the cornucopia.

And then there was Moon. She was digging through supplies quickly. She had several weapons, Spade could see, and was already trying to get some more. That's when Spade crept it. She slid near the cornucopia and slunk around its side. Cilla ran in front of her but seemed to be weaponless. She was thankful.

Fetch had leapt off the cornucopia by then and was chasing someone out of the room. Spade's heart fluttered as she reached around the corner. There still lie several backpacks and other things that hadn't been taken. She snuck up to them (avoiding Moon by a hair) and began to peer through.

As she was looking Lilac came up behind her. The girl was weaponless but was eagerly searching. Lilac pushed Spade aside and rummaged through the bags for any weapon. Spade picked herself up and tried pushing Lilac aside, but the career kicked her back and fumbled with reaching her hand into a bag.

Spade knew she had no time to look through the goods. She needed to take a bag, and fast. She quickly dove down to the ground and grabbed the first backpack she saw. Lilac had pulled out a small throwing axe in the meantime and took a hefty swing at Spade. The district three girl snuck underneath the overhang of the cornucopia as the axe struck the floor. For just a second it got stuck in the wood, and Spade knew this was her moment of opportunity. She crawled out quickly from underneath the cornucopia and made a dash for the staircase. Lilac picked up her axe and made one final throw at the girl, but missed terribly. The axe stuck out of the wood near the top stair.

Spade dashed down the staircase and headed for the front door, but stopped. She realized that she had a smarter tactic to employ. On each side of the grand staircase were planters that were raised above the level of the foyer. If she could perch herself on one, she'd be able to see up and over into room she was just in. This way, she'd be able to get a sense of the fighting styles of some of the players and perhaps see who had what weapons.

After propping herself up she took a look at the battles ensuing on the upper floor. Many people had scattered, she noticed, but there still remained eight or so looking through the cornucopia and fighting with the others.

She saw Cloud picking himself up from underneath the cornucopia. He was dragging out a bag and began rummaging through it. She could tell there must've been something large inside, because the bag was bulging. He reached inside and began pulling out a mace. It's steel hilt glinted in the rays of the lights above him and the top was secured with a heavy spiked sphere. He lifted it up and wielded it like a sword.

Xion emerged from his side and Cloud yelled something of a battle cry. He picked his mace above his head and swung down. Xion deflected the blow with the sword he had uncovered and returned the slash at double the speed. Cloud whipped around him and tried stabbing Xion in the leg, but was caught off guard as Xion brought the heavy blade through Cloud's back.

Spade jumped. The sight was ugly. Xion stood looming over a hunched Cloud, whose body contorted and wriggled around as Xion pushed the blade deeper and deeper into his back. At last, Xion leaned his full weight on the sword and sent it slicing through the other side of Cloud. Spade looked on his horror as Cloud's body stopped moving. He was dead.

Xion pulled out the sword, laughing all the while.

"No!" someone screamed. Xion and Spade saw it was Terra. She had tears streaming down her face and nothing but a small pocket knife in her hand. She looked at her friend's dead body and could barely stop herself from collapsing. Without another thought, she went sprinting from the room with Xion on her heels. Spade could only see Terra slamming a door in Xion's face before Xion opened it and went charging down the hall after Terra…

_Boom!_ Spade jumped in surprise. A loud boom reverberated throughout the large building. This was to signal that a tribute had died: Cloud. Spade shuddered as a robotic arm came clambering into the room. It then took Cloud away to another room where Spade assumed all dead tributes were brought.

A loud slash took Spade's mind off of Cloud. She looked up and saw Katz twirling a spear around in her hands. Moon was on the other end of the room; she held a blunt club that looked too small even for her hands. Katz spun the spear around and, with her profound throwing skills, brought the spear down in front of her. Then she lurched forward and left the thing fly straight at Moon.

But Moon was too swift. She dropped backward and let the spear fly narrowly past her head. Katz swallowed hard. That was her only weapon. She had flung it with certainty that she was going to strike Moon in the heart. But now…she had missed.

Moon picked herself up and yelled angrily at the now-panicked Katz. "I hate you!" Her voice was like venom.

Katz shrieked as Moon began charging at her with her club. Katz picked up a nearby vase and tried to bring it down on Moon's head, but the career was too fast. She had already pummeled Katz to the ground and flung her into the bannister.

Spade jumped. They were right above her. Moon was holding Katz down by the neck with one hand and tried to disengage the vase Katz was holding with her other. She grew frustrated, straddled Katz, and picked up her club with both hands. Katz whipped up the vase in Moon's face and it struck her. Moon staggered backward as her lip began to bleed.

Katz tried to get back up but the career was on her. Moon swung at Katz with her club. The girl rolled out of the way and instead the club formed a large crater in the wood. Katz tried to kick up at Moon with her feet with the career pushed them aside and tried pushing the lying Katz over the edge of the balcony.

Katz was struggling, but she managed to hold Moon off. Now, the career was angry. She released the hand she used to keep Katz down and swung the club down with great force. She swung again and again, each time connecting with Katz's head. Moon was yelling violently and sweating profusely when she finally stepped off Katz's body.

Spade gasped.

_Boom!_

**Jape Phisher (District 12 Male)**

Jape was running. He had darted from where he started outside the front door as quickly as he could. He didn't believe it would have been smart to run for the cornucopia, so he didn't. Besides, he found it absurdly unlikely there would be a ball-and-chain. The weapon was just too unusual.

He was then outside. He was scared of going back, and when he ran far enough away from the building he turned. What he saw astounded him. He was looking from in front of the building and could see most of the arena from his vantage point. The thing that shocked him most was the immense building that stood in front of him: it was a mansion. The mansion, though, was larger than any he could have ever created in his mind. He stood in awe.

The building was a massive expanse of rooms and windows. It was several floors high and could have probably fit at least fifty rooms on each floor. Jape stared at it in awe as he looked over the building. The front yard was vast and grassy, and front what he could tell, there was a garden along the side of the mansion and a pond to the right. Wait. A pond? With water? Jape was surprised. Typically the games did not make the problem of water this easily solved, but he wasn't going to complain.

Farther behind the house and to the right was a forest. The forest didn't seem to be that large, so he didn't think it would be able to conceal a large number of people at any given time. It went fairly deep, but it was still not a huge forest. He figured the meat of the game would take place inside the house or around its vast property. The forest was a sort of afterthought.

Behind the house was something he was not able to see. He thought he was able to make out what looked like a graveyard creeping from the right side of the house to the back, but he wasn't sure. A graveyard? That's sickening, he thought.

He was trying to wrap his head around everything. So, inside, he saw the main room and the room above it where the cornucopia was. There were people battling in there right then, but no one seemed to be outside.

But…if they were like him, wouldn't they be coming outside soon? Jape pondered over this and realized that he should probably move. He needed to hide. Thea and Hope were somewhere inside the mansion, but he felt no desire to find them. He didn't want to be the cause of one or both of their deaths. And besides, he really didn't want to get too attached to someone. It _was_ a little late for that, though…

Jape moved from his point. His first priority was to go to hide. He'd need to be able to stay somewhere outside without going back into that dreadful mansion. That's where they all were…he knew he'd need to make for the forest. Would he be safe even there, though? He couldn't be sure, but he started toward the forest anyway.

_Then I'll need water. I'll find a bucket or something to put it in._

A noise got Jape's attention. The front door was opening and out bounded several people: he saw Sapphire and Torque charging from the house toward the right, so he doubled back and moved to the left. Then he saw Fetch come out right after. He held a knife. Jape took in a deep breath. He was standing in an open grassy area about fifty feet to Fetch's left. If only the career decided to go right would Jape escape without a chase.

But he didn't.

Fetch saw the scared district twelve tribute and took advantage of the opportunity. With his knife in hand he leapt off the front porch and into the flowerbed. He landed with a grunt and picked himself up immediately.

Jape shrieked and made for the garden on the left. Fetch was coming up fast, and Jape found himself struggling with the gate that was shut on the left side. The handle was so worn…_This must be a trap! It's a trap from the game-makers! _Jape gave one last pull on the gate and it flung open. Fetch was on him, and was running so fast he ran a few feet past the gate. He brought his hand down the moment Jape stepped inside the gate, narrowly missing.

"No!" Jape yelled out of terror. He whipped himself around and grabbed at the gate's handle to pull it shut. Fetch wedged his foot in front of the gate, though, and it remained immobile. Jape backed up against it with his back and gave it a push, which shoved Fetch's foot back outside the fence.

The male from district fourteen grew angry and merely barged on through. Jape, however, was ready, and slammed the gate the instant Fetch tried to run through it. It caught his hand between the black metal bars and caused Fetch to drop his knife. The tribute screamed a cry of terror and reeled back out the gate, grasping at his throbbing hand as Jape wasted no more time. He was gone and running through the garden.

As Jape looked back, he saw that the career had no intent to chase him. Jape was confident he would have been able to escape. The garden was a maze of hedges and grasses and would have made it very difficult to be on the offensive. For then, Jape was just happy to still be breathing…

**Moon Vexus (District 1 Female)**

"I don't want to look at it," Moon said. She and Atlas were in what they believed to be the kitchen of the mansion. Moon was trying the faucets and had no luck. She grumbled. "Someone so much worse than me should not have their blood on me." She looked at the blood of Katz.

Atlas shrugged. He couldn't find any towels, so he said, "I want to search for water, anyway. If we find a pond, you can wash it off." He nodded to her and led the way back out the kitchen. He held a bow and arrow at the ready and had Moon follow behind him with her club. Both had found a backpack, yet neither had water. Atlas's consisted of the bow and plenty of arrows. Moon's held the club and several pieces of jerky. It'd be enough to get them through the night.

When they were creeping through the dining hall, Atlas said to Moon, "You killed her good."

Moon laughed. "That girl thought she was strong. You should've seen the way she attacked me!" She gently touched the bump on her head, which was still throbbing from Kat'z assault. She was in quite a bit of pain, yet she didn't want to admit it to the male. "But I got her. I knew I would."

"One female down," Atlas said. "Twelve to go."

Moon laughed. "You know me too well."

As the two creeped through the foyer, Atlas noted that there was no activity going on upstairs. Surely all the backpacks would be gone, but the cornucopia was still unoccupied. What if…someone forgot to take a bag? Everyone was clearing out of that room so quickly it was likely that no one really stayed for an extended period of time. "Should we…?" He pointed upstairs.

"I doubt there's anything left," Moon said.

"But…" Then Atlas thought. Anyone could be up there. They could be hiding under the cornucopia or in the hall. "We can't risk it." He turned and showed Moon the door. "Let's go."

Atlas pushed open the door quickly and the door ran out. No one was there, so they felt slightly safer. Moon watched the right side while Atlas watched the left. There was no activity. Where was everybody? "Looks like we found a lake," Atlas said. He pointed with his bow to the lake. He never kept his eyes off the left side, though. "Let's run. To the other side of the lake. The side near the trees."

"Trees…" Moon said, looking up at the sun. "And this mansion. At least I won't be in the sun much."

"That's good."

Without further ado, the two made a dash to the lake, but ran alongside it to the other side. They checked the nearby area in the forest to make sure no one could creep up on them while they were drinking and washing their hands, and then made it back over to the water. Moon said, "Gotta get this blood off." She reached down into the water…

And pulled her hand back quickly, flinging droplets into the air. She stumbled backward and fell onto the ground. She screamed and mumbled things under her breath, holding her hand as though it had been bitten.

"What?!" Atlas cried. "What's the matter?"

Moon shrieked and cried out in pain. "Look!" She yelled, her hand shaking. "The water burned it. It…"

Atlas looked at her hand. Indeed, the tips of three of her fingers were severely burned. This was no water, Atlas realized. This was a highly concentrated pond of acid. The game-makers had surely thought this would trick a few people. And it did. "It's…acid."

"What?!" Moon yelled. Tears began welling in her eyes. She flailed around and writhed in pain. Atlas tried to console her. She seemed angrier and more heated as a result. "Take me to the forest!" she commanded. Atlas helped her up and let her cling to his shoulder. She struggled to move and let her injured hand hang limp at the side of she body. The two moved slowly to the forest to find a place for Moon to rest.

"That's…a pool of acid!" Atlas screamed, angry. "I thought it was water!"

"No kidding," Moon said, annoyed. Her hand felt as though it had just been held over a torch. A lot of the skin was burned away, and what skin remained had blackened and shrunk. "I need a bandage."

"We should find one. I'll make you one…" He looked around at the leaves. He thought maybe he could design some sort of bandage out of the leaves or grasses nearby. When Moon saw him doing this, she stopped him.

"Don't do that. You've seen the book of poisonous plants. If you put something like that on an open wound…" she said warningly. Indeed, the arena was likely littered with newly created plants and grasses that were potentially deadly.

Atlas shrugged. "Maybe. But…I'm sure one of these plants will work. They're not all poisonous."

Moon wouldn't backpedal. She said, "It's alright. Maybe someone'll sponsor me." She clutched her hand and then looked up at the sky for nothing in particular. Then, knowing there must've been cameras all around the area, she said, "Can't someone send down a bandage?! I already killed someone! Isn't that worth getting sponsored?!" She was losing it and Atlas knew it.

The career changed his mind. "I have a better idea: I'll go back to the cornucopia and look for any more backpacks."

"Too dangerous."

"That's what everyone thinks, so no one will actually go," Atlas reasoned. "It's abandoned."

"Well, I'll come with you, okay?"

"I think maybe you should stay here."

"No!"

"Well then…" Atlas sighed. He didn't want to drag his only alliance member and friend into danger, but he did admit that going back to the cornucopia would likely be dangerous. "You could watch my back. But let me do the fighting. Can you even do anything with that hand?"

"Not right now," she said. "The wound…it's very fresh. Maybe after a little while. The club's heavy. I can try to lift it with one hand, though." She sighed and looked at the ground. As of then, she was not having the greatest time of her life. "Now let's go."

**Raz Golding (District 3 Male)**

Luckily for Raz, he had been able to escape without any harm done. When he felt he was safe, he took it upon himself to explore the mansion. This way, he thought he might be able to find someplace to hide and set up camp. After that, he'd need to find water. And after that, he'd need to find food. First, though, he tried to think of a place most people wouldn't likely find him.

He was in the east wing of the gigantic mansion. To get there, he had passed numerous rooms, such as a study, a room full of trophies and grand objects, and several hallways and parlors. The house really was massive. He wondered if he had even explored a tiny fraction of the building's rooms.

Raz found himself in what looked like some sort of taxidermy room. This wasn't a good place to hide out in, but he decided to take a moment to explore. _Taxidermy…taxidermy…I wonder if there are any weapons in here. _Raz peered out through the door to make sure no one was coming, and when he saw that no one was, he got right into searching the room for some kind of weapon to defend himself.

There were empty drawers and other drawers filled with scattered papers. He wasn't interested in these, though. He was looking for a weapon; a spear would do, as would a knife. Anything he could find he'd gladly accept. The thought of Xion brutally massacring him sent shivers up and down his back. There was a closet, he saw. The door was locked, so he took an alternate approach; the door was also made of wood, so the marble lamp on the adjacent side table would make for a good door-breaking device.

He smashed in the wood (as softly as he could, of course) and opened the door from the other side. He pushed himself past pieces of wood as he looked through the dark closet. "What's this?" he whispered quietly. He had stepped on something, and when he did, it made a loud _clack! _sound.

He reached down into the dark depths of the closet and clasped something metal. Pulling his hands back up, he saw the thing he had picked up glimmer in the light of the taxidermy room next door. It was a bear trap, he saw. He wasn't sure how this would protect him, but it was a weapon nonetheless.

Raz moved out of the taxidermy room after that and into the next. He had to pass through several halls and eventually reached what appeared to be the library. This room was massive and had a staircase along the right wall that led to another floor of books and chairs and tables. This truly was a mansion, Raz realized.

He tip-toed quietly through the room, looking for another door. Perhaps there were more rooms past the library, yet he saw only one door in sight: the one he had entered through. But wait…wasn't it common to hide some sort of secret room accessible from the library? Yes, surely. It was common in books and movies, and there was nothing the Hunger Games liked more than to pull out secrets and hidden treasures. And if only Raz knew about this so-called "secret room", then no one could ever find him, and he'd be able to survive. The thought excited the man; for the first time in the entire game, he thought that maybe he'd be able to live and not suffer the horrible death he thought he was going to suffer.

He just needed to look. He tried pulling books from the shelves, switching candles from one place to another, and moving around various objects in the room. Nothing seemed to happen. But still, he believed very much that somewhere behind those books lay a hidden passage.

But where was it? He was exhausting himself just looking, and he thought for sure he heard a familiar voice somewhere near the door. He hid between several shelves and waited. The voices were gone, but Raz was afraid. He'd need to move. Perhaps there was a small room he could camp out in. He wasn't sure…

As Raz continued his search throughout the mansion his mind began to wander. He began to think of someplace else that was far, far away. He thought of home. And then he thought of his family. He tried to picture his wife's face, and his children's faces too. As he nervously walked up and down the halls, he felt his heart beating faster and faster. He couldn't think of their faces. He tried harder. Was someone coming? He turned around quickly. He thought he heard Lilac's voice, but maybe not. He tried to think of his wife but he could only think of Lilac. He started to pick up the pace. He tried a door. It was locked. He tried another. Was there a secret passage in the library? Perhaps he had missed it. But he couldn't go back. Lilac could be waiting for him, waiting to kill him. And his children…would they be able to live with themselves without a father? But what did they look like? He tried to remember…he tried and failed.

**Sapphire Raven (District 10 Female)**

Sapphire and Torque had locked themselves away in one of the many, many bedrooms on the mansion's fourth floor. They figured they had probably gotten away from the majority of the action given how far they had departed from the cornucopia. Here, they agreed to wait for awhile and discuss their plans.

"Look outside!" Sapphire said urgently. She was at the window and was looking at the part of the arena she could see. There was a garden beneath them, but nothing beyond. She failed to see much outside, so she shut the blinds angrily and turned to her partner.

Torque was busy fiddling with a spear he had picked up at the cornucopia. He had fought with Axem over the thing at the beginning, but had managed to pull the spear free. Sadly, though, it seemed the spear had snapped ever so slightly. The fault in the weapon was small, but Torque insisted it didn't feel right in his hands.

He looked over at Sapphire and said, "This thing is broken." She just rolled her eyes.

"It's not," she insisted. "Just don't play with it like that. It only has a small splinter, right?" She pointed at the wooden weapon and waked over to it. She played with it in her hands and said, "Yeah, this thing is still good. Just be careful." She returned the weapon.

The two waited in silence for a little while and let the sounds of nothingness overwhelm them. It was so odd. Twenty-six people were still alive and yet it felt as though they were the only two left breathing. Things were just so…mysterious. Sapphire's heart had been beating rapidly throughout the whole game and was only then beginning to slow down. "You shouldn't run to the cornucopia with me," Torque said.

Sapphire made a face. "I tried. But then Cilla came running at me with a pipe and I high-tailed it outta there." She put her hands down to her sides and sighed. She looked around the room and said. "This is a good room. I wonder…" She walked over to examine the door they had locked. She tried pulling on it hard. The door did not budge. "No one can get in here."

"You think it's safe to sleep here tonight?" Torque asked. Would the tributes really have the luxury of a bedroom? If this was true, then these Hunger Games would be a lot better than the ones Torque was picturing in his head. Sapphire seemed pleased.

"I could get used to this." She looked at Torque. "Keep your bag here," she said, pointing to the one Torque had managed to pick up at the cornucopia. "No one can get it, then…"

Torque agreed that would be wise. Then he said, "I wish we had some careers."

Sapphire shrugged. "We can win on our own." Then a thought struck her. "Actually, I think we ought to get looking for September. We were gonna ally."

Torque looked up at her, sweating. He seemed exhausted already and he had only engaged in a few meager fights. He watched her with both eyes and stared deep into her mind. "You're kidding, right? You can't be serious."

"Why not?" Sapphire wondered. "I told you she asked me to join an alliance."

"And I said not to," Torque said.

"But she's strong."

"She has a limp." He threw his arms into the air and stood up. He cracked open the window and looked outside to make sure his cracking the window wouldn't give someone the opportunity to break into their room.

"I don't care," Sapphire said, surprised. "She's a powerful ally."

"Sapphire, I don't like her, okay? She's not a career. She's not even that strong." He held his head in annoyance. "Leave her be. I don't want her on our team. Maybe we could try to convince—"

"No!" Sapphire yelled. She stood from the bed and moved to the door. "If you're not going to look for her, I'll do it myself."

"You will?" Torque asked. "Without me?"

"Yes."

"Good luck," he said, laughing all the while. Sapphire made a face at him as she opened the door. She wanted to slam it, but she didn't want to risk making any detectable noise. She closed the door gently and stepped into the hallway. It was scary out there. The halls were dark, and she had a sinking feeling that someone might just have been lurking around the corner…

**Qax Qionis (District 6 Male)**

He could see the golden shine of the giant cornucopia through the shutters on the wooden doors. He and Apple were on a stakeout, waiting for anyone to return to the golden colossus with the intention of stealing one of the remaining three bags. The two were waiting behind the closed doors of a small washroom adjacent to the foyer's balcony. The door had small shutters that made it convenient to peer out into the outside room to see whether or not someone was making a run on some of the final bags.

Qax stood ready with a large mallet. Apple was behind him; she wasn't armed with much, but the two had found a small switchblade in the pocket of Qax's backpack that they thought would suit her well. The three bags left under the overhang of the cornucopia had been emptied. Qax and Apple were splurging on water bottles and weapons and food and a first aid kit.

"We can stay here all day," Qax said. "Someone's gotta come by this place."

Apple was worried. She and Qax had planned to jump out from the washroom and catch an interloper off-guard, yet the thought scared her. Something could go wrong; perhaps Xion or Fetch or September would be on the other side waiting to rip them apart with their bare hands. But no…she had to trust Qax. He was there to protect her, so she stood by his side when he needed her.

"Did you hear that?" Qax asked. He waved his hand to alert Apple of the sound of an approaching someone. It sounded like someone was coming up the stairs. This would be his chance! The man waited patiently with Apple sweating behind him, nervous and flinching.

When the male could get a better look at who it was, he saw that it was Atlas. He was coming up the stairs quietly and making his way over to the cornucopia. Qax grabbed the door handle and pushed the door ever so slightly outward. Atlas didn't seem to notice, but instead quickly reached under the cornucopia and pulled out one of the bags.

At that moment, Qax and Apple burst from the door with their weapons in hand. Qax swung his mallet quickly and hit Atlas in the side of his chest. The career grunted and fell to the floor. He scrambled for his bow and arrow, but Qax denied this move by kicking the bow away from Atlas. Qax lifted the mallet (and Apple closed her eyes) to strike, but Atlas quickly stabbed Qax above the ankle with the tip of an arrow. The caught-off-guard man swung spontaneously and missed, hitting and denting the floor severely.

Before Qax and Apple knew it, Moon was flying up the stairs to aid her fallen career. She wielded a club (not very well, given the situation with her hand) and tried to fend off the looming Qax. Apple shrieked and tried her best to swipe at Moon, but she was too conservative and missed by several inches.

"Apple, run!" Qax yelled. The situation looked bad. He turned to his career as Moon's mallet struck his club. Atlas was just then regaining his balance and was trying to stab Qax again whenever he was safely out of range. Apple, with tears in her eyes, began to rush off toward the west wing. Moon saw this, though, and chose to not take any prisoners. Atlas would have yelled at her to aid him in the fight against Qax, but she was gone by the time Qax was coming upon him.

Atlas rushed to his bow, but Qax was just as quick. By the time the career had picked up the weapon, Qax had kicked it out of his hands and down into the foyer. Atlas, now kneeling, did the only thing he could think to do: he charged Qax's legs. The career heaved the district six tribute onto the ground. Qax grunted.

Atlas stood up quickly while Qax was down and rushed down the foyer stairs. He took a moment to search for his bow, yet it seemed swallowed by all of the plant-life in the planter. Not wanting to risk his life, Atlas ran from the foyer to the room on the left. Qax was barely coming down the stairs by the time Atlas had snuck out of the room.

That was crazy. Qax knew he had won that battle, and spent a moment looking for Atlas's bow. But before he could actually take a good look, he remembered that Apple desperately needed his help. He charged up the stairs and took the door on the left, screaming and calling Apple's name all the while.

The hallway he was in was dark and seemingly deserted. He creeped through the spooky hall and watched around every bend. He thought for sure Moon was somewhere lurking. He was just about to turn the bend when a hand grabbed him from behind. He lifted his mallet to swing, but only saw Apple there looking distraught and utterly scared. Qax was surprised. "What? Where…where did you come from?"

"I…I managed to hide," Apple said, out of breath. "But Moon…she's somewhere around we. We have to go, Qax. We have to go someplace else." He knew she was right. They needed to relocate as quickly as they possibly could. And as they did, Qax could only think the depressing thought that Apple had almost been killed by a career.

* * *

"_Where…am I?"_

"_You are here. Right here."_

"_What do you mean? Where is the arena?"_

"_There is no more arena to worry about."_

"_But…why?"_

"_Do you still feel pain?"_

"_Pain?"_

"_Pain."_

"_Why…no, I don't!"_

"_And no blood?"_

"_Let me see. No! There is no blood! Am…I healed?"_

"_Do you remember the way you have been killed?"_

"_All too vividly."_

"_You died a noble death. A quick one, yes. But a noble one."_

"_Thank you, but…where am I?"_

"_You are here."_

"_I know that, but…"_

"_You are no longer alive. You are free from the Hunger Games. You are a winner."_

"_A winner? But…you can't win the Hunger Games."_

"_You can if you are freed from it. You served your purpose. You are a winner."_

"_But I don't want to be dead. I…I have a family. I had a life."_

"_You have a family that loves you very much, too. Your wife will no doubt remember your strength and character. She will tell your story for years to come and sing the song of your success. You did not die a loser. You were noble and strong. You were a winner. Do you believe me now?"_

"_I suppose. But, still…"_

"_And your sons. They will grow up to be like you. They will do the right thing and follow their hearts. Your death is not a burden. It will be an obstacle, of course, but it is not ruinous."_

" '_Not ruinous…' Who are you, exactly?"_

"_Someone who cares for you very much. Someone who has come to you at your time of need to help you cope with your lost life. I am a friend."_

"_A…friend?"_

"_Indeed. I am here to tell you that everything will be alright. You must trust me."_

"_I do trust you."_

"_Thank you."_

"_You have told me great things about myself. I believe I understand, now, what a true winner is."_

"_You see? You truly are a winner."_

"_I am…"_

"_Are you ready to go?"_

"_Go? Go where?"_

"_Beyond?"_

"_Beyond…? I…I am ready. At least I think I am."_

"_Well then let us go. Cloud, you will always be remembered for your nobility and courage. You are a true inspiration to tributes this year and for the years to come. You are a winner…"_

* * *

**Xion Macabre (District 2 Male)**

"Two are dead," Xion noted. "That's not a lot." He and Lilac were rummaging through the house looking for other tributes or secrets. They were in the northernmost wing of the house and were walking through an indoor courtyard. "Let's get outta here fast. Too many windows."

The two swept through the room and entered a small room with a staircase that led up. "No, it's not a lot at all," Lilac realized. Only two tributes had died thus far during the initial sequence of the game. It seemed that by then most of the tributes had successfully managed to find places to camp out or conceal themselves. She, however, just wanted blood. She looked at Xion's magnificent sword and then down at the sickle she had managed to snag from a cornucopian bag. "Let's get a few more out of the picture."

Xion and Lilac took the stairs up. The could have gotten off at the second floor but chose to continue upward. They continued until the reached the top floor: the fourth floor. The whole room was just one big vertical tunnel of staircases. They were wooden and creaky and seemed like they could have snapped just under the immense weight of Xion alone.

Xion went to the door that would lead them to the hall. Lilac called him, though. "Xion! What is this?" She pointed to something on the wall. It was a button.

"That's…interesting," he said. The button looked safe enough to press, yet it wouldn't have surprised him if it were some sort of trap. He approached the wall, aside of Lilac, and pressed his ear against the wood. He heard nothing. "This might be…a trap."

"I figured as much," Lilac said. "I'll press it."

"No!" Xion said, grasping her hand. "I'll do it. Stay clear of this wall."

"Xion," Lilac said, worried. "Let's just forget about this stupid button. Let's go. Oh, please…" He led her away from the wall and all the while she continued to beg him not to press the button. "Let's go kill someone."

"One minute," he said, examining the wall a little more closely. Something was definitely inside it. He could see a barely visible crease in the wood that seemed to hide something behind. He stood in front of the button.

"Xion, let's go!" Lilac yelled urgently. She looked pained. She wanted to go over to him but she went nervous. "Please…"

Xion shook his head. Lilac begged him one final time to forget about the button, but Xion ignored her. He pressed it and leapt out of the way. Slowly, the wooden walls began to part and reveal a large metal box. Xion just laughed. "It's an elevator."

Lilac looked at him with her face twisted. "I hate this game," she mumbled as she walked back over to the wall. "Should we get in?"

"Let's," he said. The two stepped in and waited for the walls to close. It seemed there was only one other stop this elevator made: "B". "What's 'B'?" Xion asked. Lilac shook her head in confusion and admitted that she had absolutely no clue. "Basement?"

"Yeah, maybe…" The two waited for the elevator to descend, and when it finally did, Xion and Lilac found themselves in a dark and dank room that smelled of mildew and dripped of water from the rusty pipes above. It looked like a cave of sorts, but there was such little light that it made it very difficult to see.

"What's that?" Xion wondered.

"What?"

"That." He pointed to something in front of them. Lilac squinted and could finally barely realize that there was a wall in front of them. There was an all-stone wall that stretched from one side of the cave to the other. It was blocking whatever was on the other side, which must have been pretty important if it needed to be protected by a wall. Xion just looked confused. "This is weird."

Lilac yelled," Look!" She was peering through a small hole in the wall that allowed for one to see through. On the other side…was water. She gasped. Indeed, there was a fresh spring of water on the other side that looked absolutely delectable. She said, "We have to get over there."

"We need water…"

Lilac put her finger through the hole. She wasn't sure if she could feel around for a hidden button or something, but nothing happened. She sighed. "There's gotta be a way to get over there…"

"Didn't your backpack have matches?" Xion asked. "We need to see."

"It might have," Lilac admitted. She began searching through her bag, but stopped unexpectedly. She looked up at Xion. "This…is kinda fun. It's like we're on a hunt for treasure, or something. Just you and I…" She resumed her search and finally pulled out what they were looking for. Xion struck a match on the wall and instantly the room became a tiny bit brighter. They held the match near the wall blocking their way to the water and began to look. Perhaps there was a button, or something.

"Look here," Xion said. He pointed to something on the wall. "There's something written here."

"Really?" Lilac moved next to him.

_When there's nothing to drink,_

_Your heart should not sink._

_For behind this wall lies the spring,_

_The spring of life and of the living._

_Insert the gift into the box,_

_And watch as the wall unlocks._

_The gift to access the spring of life,_

_Is a mere human sacrifice._

Beneath the poem lay a large hole big enough for a person to lie down in. Lilac and Xion both assumed this was where the "gift" should be placed, and shuttered. "I wonder…what's in there." Lilac peered into the depths of the black box and looked at Xion.

"Then it's settled," Xion said. "We must find someone. Come, Lilac. Let us get our sacrifice."

**Stark Locar (District 4 Male)**

"Well where did you see him last?" Angel prodded.

"I don't know. This is annoying," Stark complained. The two were having a difficult time finding either Fetch or Axem, both of whom were supposed to be allying with them. "Fetch took off immediately. Serves him right to be out there on his own. And Axem…I don't know where that guy went."

Angel and Stark were in the forest pondering the situation at hand. They had plopped themselves down near the base of a large tree and considered their situation. Stark grew frustrated with each passing minute that two of his alliance members were missing. Perhaps either of them was dead as well. Angel asked him, "What should we do?"

Stark seemed unsure. He watched as Angel straightened her gold hair and grew anxious. "We ought to find them. Then we can plan. You should figure out how to build a bomb, too. I mean, we don't have much time." Angel shrugged at him.

"It'd be nice if I had the materials _to _build a bomb…"

"Well," Stark began, "maybe there are some here in the forest. I mean…" He peered out through the trees. The forest seemed even smaller and less safe now that they were inside it. It was quite expansive behind them, yet it also grew thicker and more convoluted as well. They would save those areas for when they needed to hide. "I have an idea."

"What?"

"You can start work on your bombs while I look for Fetch and Axem. We should meet back here before the sun starts to go down. And…if that cannon goes off. Well, I'll be scared 'til the moment I get back here." He stood up and Angel did the same. She seemed only moderately excited about his plan. The thought of splitting up didn't bode well with her.

"You know," she said. "I don't know if I'll even be able to build a bomb. I'll need to find a lot of stuff."

"True," Stark admitted. He glanced around and continued to think.

Angel said, "So, what should I do?"

"Look around anyway," he said. "Think about it. If you can build a bomb, we can kill a lot of people that way. I mean, sure it will be difficult to build, but if you can build one…"

"We can blow it up in the house," Angel said. "Perhaps the whole thing'll come tumbling down and the people inside'll get killed." She liked the sound of that. "I still don't think I'll be able to build one…" But she stopped. To her amazement, a small little parachute flew down aside of her carrying a large golden shell. Inside the shell would be located the objects her sponsors chose to give her. She looked on in surprise.

"You might want to rethink that…" Stark said. "I think I know what's inside there." He started to walk away and leave Angel to her bomb-building supplies as he trudged through the green forest. He laughed to himself for a little while, but then got down to business. He'd have to be careful. Worse yet, the only weapon he managed to pick up was a meager set of shurikens. He had virtually no skills in the art of throwing, especially shurikens. He sighed as he looked down at the little weapons.

Stark didn't need to go far before he found himself aside of the large pond that spread across the right side of the arena. He had no thirst at that time and had no bottle or flask in which to put any water, so he continued on. At that moment, he heard his name being called. He turned to the source and saw Axem staggering up from behind the house.

Stark noticed the man's limp. He couldn't move very fast. But still, Stark had deep respect for Axem. He had certainly proven himself when he showed off his mastery with the bow and arrow.

"Look!" Axem said as he approached Stark. He held something in his hand that was utterly unmistakable. Stark's jaw dropped as he saw what Axem was wielding. "Can you believe how lucky I am?"

"Where'd you find that?" Stark wondered. In Axem's hands was a bow. Indeed, the district five tribute had managed to find the very weapon he was good at using.

Axem took Stark by the shoulder and led him into the woods where the two would be better concealed. "You see, I saw Atlas and Qax fighting. Atlas had a bow, but it got kicked over the balcony in the foyer, so I went up and got it later. I mean, how lucky can a guy be?" He flaunted his bow with excitement as Stark shared in this ecstasy.

"Good find," he admitted. Stark then said, "Come. We should go back to Angel now. We ought to find Fetch, too." Stark led the man to Angel and began to wonder just how well this alliance might turn out. It seemed like everything was going in their favor: Axem had found a bow and arrow, and better yet, Angel had been sponsored with a too-good-to-be-true gift. The games, Stark thought, were going well…

**Terra Celeantra (District 8 Female)**

There were tears. There were lots of tears. Terra sat crying in a washroom she had managed to come across during her exploring. She didn't even care about the games. She didn't care about fighting and she didn't care about protecting anyone. She only cared about Cloud. He was dead, and she had done nothing to save him.

_Why?! _She thought angrily. _Why did you have to be so ambitious? Why did you have to pick a fight with a career right away? Why? You are so stupid. Cloud, why?! I…I hate you for that. You left me. You had to fight. You had to be strong! Why? Please, Cloud…come back. Cloud…_She cried even louder now. _Why would you fight? Why couldn't you just think first? _She was sobbing. _We could be strategizing right now. But now I'm gonna die…I'm gonna die because I'm sad. And I'm sad because of you! Cloud…_

Terra let out another burst of tears and began to wonder if she'd ever be able to stop crying. She thought of Cloud and when she had first met him. She had loved his personality and loved his sense of strength and courage. He was a tad ambitious, yes, but she was always there to give him direction. She helped him think before acting.

Similarly, Cloud gave her the drive and will that she might have been lacking. He told her to be proud and valiant and taught her all of the things he was good at that she wasn't. They…they had been perfect for each other. They completed the missing pieces of each other and formed the perfect pair to tackle and beat the Hunger Games.

But now, Cloud was dead. He had died at the hand of the very man he was striving to beat. Terra felt awful. She had been busy looking for a bag that no one had taken when Cloud began his fight with Xion. Then, the career showed no mercy. He didn't even feel bad when he stuck that sword all the way through Cloud's back.

"Why?" she whispered. She wanted to smack herself right then for acting like this, but she just couldn't stop. She had always been so collected, but now she wanted nothing more than to wither and die.

But she had to protect people. She knew it was her duty. She couldn't let others die simply because she was too sad to do anything. If she couldn't resurrect Cloud, she'd need to resurrect his spirit. And his spirit was filled with chivalry and justice. She couldn't just wither. She'd need to weather the storm and fight.

Terra stood up. She was still crying and she'd still hate herself until the moment she died for not telling Cloud to be careful, but she forged on. With Cloud on her, mind, she moved from the washroom and picked her way carefully outside the door. She had no weapon. She had managed to claim no bag. But she had the will. She had the drive. She had Cloud's drive. She was ready.

* * *

"_What is this place? How…how did I get here?"_

"_Do you not remember?"_

"_I remember…a fight. I remember a big headache, and then…"_

"_And then you came here?"_

"_I…I think so."_

"_You held her off well."_

"_What?"_

"_You held her off well. You put up a fight."_

"_I did, I guess…"_

"_She was afraid of you. You were strong. She knew it. You shocked everyone with your skills. You are not as you seem."_

"_I…I hated everyone. What do you mean I'm not like I seem?"_

"_You did not hate them all. You were strategizing and you were an underdog. You had the skills, and they almost paid off. You are not a failure, because you proved yourself today."_

"_But…I lost."_

"_That matters not an ounce. You lost to a professional. You fought strong and level-headed."_

"_Thank you…?"_

"_And you have made your parents proud."_

"_Did I?"_

"_You did."_

"_W-well…"_

"_Shhh. You do not have to speak. You must listen. You have made your parents proud and you have proven you have the skills to fight in the Hunger Games. You hated no one. You just didn't want to die."_

"_I didn't. I was scared."_

"_And no one can blame you for that. You are not a bad person. People looked up to you; they thought you could have won the whole game. You were a champion, in their eyes, and you never let your facade down."_

"_Well…I couldn't trust any of them. They…are killers. You know that."_

"_And so you did well. Had you not lost your life, your independence would have carried you far."_

"_Thank you for your words, but…who are you?"_

"_I am a shadow. I am like you. But shadows can be good. They know when not to trust a person. You are a shadow, too."_

"_You may be right. Any…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_You are trustworthy. I can feel it."_

"_Indeed, I am. You are smart. I am no enemy. I will take you now, if you wish."_

"_Take me?"_

"_To a place where you need not worry. To a place where you can live a life of freedom. Will you come?"_

"_Yes…I will come."_

"_Thank you, Katz. You will always be remembered for your unexpected fighting skills. And your antisocial, but not hateful, attitude. You will be remembered for the good shadow that you are."_

* * *

**Cilla Omala (District 11 Female)**

"This is more my kind of weapon." Cilla played with a steel knife in her hand as she tested its balance. In her other hand she held a pipe, which she would have discarded had she not had a convenient bag in which to carry it. So, she kept both weapons and began to leave the dining hall. Conveniently there lie a knife underneath one of the napkins on the table, so Cilla was happy to see she was able to a weapon. And this weapon, unlike the blunt pipe, was much more suited to her fighting.

She stalked from one of the room to the other and exited the door. She found herself in a hallway on the east side of the house. She began taking its passage and leading herself to the nearest room. Perhaps she'd be able to find some sort of weapon or survival item in this room, too.

As she rested her hand on the door she began to think about her situation. She was a mother, but admittedly not a very good one. And now she was in these Hunger Games and was forced to fight for her life. She could feel her mind begin to wander from the normal, everyday things that typically past through it; as of late, thoughts of death and murder began to surface.

_I'm changing…_

She had a desire to kill. These games had prepped her for what was to come, and now she wanted to use these skills. She felt herself slowly losing the few normalities she usually had, and she began to transform into a psychopath. She would have normally thought herself insane and awful, but now…it felt normal. She didn't care about someone's life as she would have weeks ago.

_Killing is just nature. Animals do it all the time. _If so, what would be so bad about killing a person? She wanted everyone to realize that. It wasn't so bad to kill a person if your government was making you do it. It got her angry to think of how ignorant people like Fox and Hope were to this fact; they didn't need to be cowards. They should be instinctive and not concerned about their morals, she thought.

As her mind lingered and as she stood in the middle of the hallway, she jumped as she heard something coming down the hall. She quickly entered the room she was in front of and peered out into the dimly lit passage. She saw Raz pass at the intersection of the T-shaped hallways and continue perpendicular to the hall she was in. He seemed defenseless.

Cilla tip-toed out into the hall with her pipe at the ready. She peered down the hallway he walked down and barely saw him enter a room somewhere on the left side. She approached, walking down the hall. Then, without thinking, she kicked the door open. Raz, on the inside, screamed. He saw he standing there in the middle of the doorway with a pipe in her hand. He was carrying a water bottle that he had managed to find and was just about to open it when Cilla came storming into the room.

"Woah…" Cilla said, catching herself from falling. She had almost walked right into the bear trap Raz had set up right past the door. She laughed at his attempt to stop an intruder and said, "Is that your only weapon?"

"Yes…" His voice was shaking and nervous. Cilla just laughed again. She leapt over the bear trap and looked him in the eyes.

"Don't you want to get a weapon?"

Raz looked down at the ground. He didn't want to fight, so he new exactly what his answer to her question was. "No."

The girl looked at him as though he had gone mad. There were chairs in the little living room they were in, so she bade him sit down. Raz followed her instructions to the tee. "I see you got a water bottle there…"

"You…you can have it," Raz offered. He was anxious. Cilla just laughed again.

"I don't want you to hand it to me," she said. "Why won't you fight?"

"Because I don't want to."

"You're scared."

"Yes, but also because I don't want to."

"Why?"

"Because," Raz began.

Cilla just waited for him to finish.

"It's not the right thing to do."

Cilla chuckled as she took a seat across from him. She balanced the pipe she had in her right hand and said. "Oh, that's what everyone's saying these days. But guess what: this is a game, and it's a game about survival. The government wants you to kill someone, so why won't you just do it?"

"I don't care what the Capitol says…" Raz said.

"So you will not fight just because you don't think it's right? Well, everyone is doing it, so you might as well, too. Otherwise, you'll just die. And it's not like your death will save other people." She looked down at the pipe in her hand. Then she looked at her backpack.

"Don't…please…"

Cilla picked up the pipe and put it in one hand and then picked up the knife and put it in the other. Then she looked at him. "Here's what we'll do. We're gonna play a little game. It's a fun game that will be much more fun than the Hunger Games, I'm sure."

Raz looked on, confused.

"I have a pipe in this hand and a knife in this hand," Cilla began. "Tell me why it is so wrong to kill, and if you convince me, I just might spare you. If you can't, I'll choose whichever weapon I want and kill you with it. If you can convince me even just a little bit, I'll let you pick the weapon I'll kill you with."

Raz didn't move a muscle. He swallowed loudly and continued to stare at Cilla. He was shaking badly now, and the girl seemed to enjoy that. He looked at her in the eyes and tried to tell if she was bluffing. Surely no one could be this cruel. How could someone be this blind to the value of life? He couldn't speak. His mind was a whirlwind. Would this be how he died? He hoped that somehow, some way he could get sponsored. Perhaps a parachute could materialize out of thin air and give him the thing he needed to get out of Cilla's grasp. He didn't want a weapon, but he needed…something. But that could never happen. How could you get sponsored indoors?

Raz's daydream was shattered as Cilla spoke. "Or, if you don't speak at all, I'll alternate killing you with each weapon. One jab here. Cut a little here…" He waved her arms around and pointed at Raz. "So you won't speak?" She stood up with both weapons in hand. She moved over to his seat and took a swing with her knife at his arm. She sliced it open and he screamed in pain. "Want to speak now?"

Raz choked a little bit. He coughed and sighed and winced and fell to the floor. He held his arm and said, "I won't speak." He wimpered out a few words and screamed in pain. Cilla laughed for what felt like the hundredth time and raised her right hand.

"Then it's time for the pipe…" She swung down, but before the pipe could hit Raz, the man sprung from his seat, tackling Cilla to the floor at the same time. She was startled as she felt herself hit the floor. But now she was angry. She kicked him off of her and held him by the arm she had cut. "You fool!" She threw the pipe to the side and picked up the knife high into the air. Raz wriggled around as he tried to make his escape, but it was too late. Cilla was slicing and cutting and jabbing for several seconds before she finally gave it up.

The girl looked down at the blood that had stained her hands and the carpet. She was breathing heavily and she didn't know what to do. She just stayed there, looking down at Raz's dead body as she recreated her murder in her mind. That man was no fighter, she told herself. It was better she die at the hands of her than of someone merciless. She stood up and wiped some blood from her hands. "You just needed to talk to me."

_Boom!_

**September Realer (District 14 Female)**

_Thhhump._

_Thhhump._

_Thhhump. _September moved slowly but steadily through a third floor hallway. She had a ball-and-chain dangling from her left hand while the right half of her body supported her stilted walking with the help of the wall. She made quite a ruckus trying to move around, but it didn't faze her. If someone came upon her, she could fight them to death.

_Thhhump. _Someone must've been nearby. She had yet to kill a single tribute, and this only made her angry. Her mind was devoid of activity as she meandered down the hall. With her weapon in hand, she didn't care about anything else. The only thing she'd need then was a fresh place to get water. However, she had not been outside, so she had not yet known of the lake.

_Thhhump._

_Thhhump._

There was a voice. "September!" it called. The district fourteen female turned to the voice. She knew whom it belonged to. The limping girl waited in the hall as the voice got closer and closer. "I've been looking for you forever."

"I've been doing the same," September said matter-of-factly. She turned back down the hall and started to walk. "Where have you been?"

"With Torque, but…" Sapphire paused. She thought hard about something. "He doesn't want to join our alliance."

"No? But and thought you two were friends."

"We are, but he…doesn't trust you."

September glared at the darkness in front of her. How dare a person say such a thing without ever really know the person? This got the girl riled up and more ready to kill than ever. September sped up her pace down the hall and said, "Let us find people."

"To…kill them?"

September nodded. Sapphire walked behind and watched how slowly September moved. In a way, she had to admit that Torque was right: she really wasn't all that fast and would slow them down.

That was her only fault, though. When Sapphire saw that September had a ball-and-chain in her hands, her heart flitted with joy. Already September had managed to pick up her best weapon? This was good. This was very good. "September…" Sapphire began, "how exactly did you get that ball-and-chain?"

September looked over her shoulder at her. "Sponsorship."

"Oh…"

The girl from district fourteen slowed down the pace a little bit. Her leg was hurting. She grasped at the wall even harder now to help steady herself. She made a few winces, but never stopped moving. Sapphire just watched from behind. "Maybe," Sapphire said, "we can go look for Torque? I'm sure he'd like to join us if he saw your weapon."

September just glared back at her. "Oh, would he? He would trust me then?"

Sapphire looked confused. "Why, yes." She swallowed hard and walked on slowly.

"How nice," September mused, picking up her speed again. She held the ball-and-chain a little tighter as they continued through the third floor hallway. With Sapphire by her side, September was ready to kill. She was ready to use her ball-and-chain skills and split someone open. She smiled a faint smiled as they walked.

_Thhhump._

**Rave Klipper (District 9 Male)**

Both Rave and Watch were completely defenseless as they creeped their way along the garden on the side of the house. They were looking for anything that could have possibly be of use. Specifically, they were looking for a can or bucket to collect water. They'd need that later…

"Hurry," Watch said urgently. Rave was trying to keep up with his jogging partner but was having a difficult time. Maneuvering around the garden's hedges was difficult work, and no doubt Rave Klipper was having a particularly difficult time given his poor breathing patterns. He had to stop again and again. Watch grew nervous.

"Stop…" Rave said quickly. He hid behind a hedge and took in another deep breath. "Start looking," he said. The two moved around that general area and began exploring for any kind of bucket. They searched the obvious places, like the shed, but the search bore no fruit.

"Over here…" Watch said. "They had to have hidden something in a hedge." He pointed at the dozens of hedges and grass sculptures built in the garden. Watch put his hands into the hedges and moved them around a little bit. He tried to feel for any kind of object but was having a particularly difficult time.

"Look!" Rave called. Watch turned to him and saw that he had indeed found something inside one of the hedges: it was a bow, and along with it came a quiver with more than thirty arrows. "You think this thing'll work as a flask?"

"Brilliant!" Watch said happily. "That's a great idea. Come, let us fetch water." Along the way back to the front of the house the two listened to the sound of any approaching tributes. When it seemed like the coast was clear, the two snuck along the front of the house and to the other side. They thought they saw movement in the forest, but neither was sure. They stayed on the side of the pond opposite the woods, and Rave knelt down to fill up the quiver with water.

"Woah!" The man yelled. The quiver began to burn away as the water touched it. Watch jumped in surprise and looked at the quiver curiously. "What is this?"

"Don't touch it," Watch said. "It's…that's not water."

"No…it's like…"

"Acid." Watch looked down at the half-burnt quiver and pondered what they were going to do. "Well that's a surprise." He wondered how many people were going to burn something in that lake before the day was done.

"How are we gonna get water?"

This was an important question. Watch didn't really know. The arena was a clever one. It left a large lake that look awfully tempting. But still, there had to have been water. Perhaps, he thought, there was a secret spring somewhere in the forest. There had to be one somewhere. "I don't know…"

"Well, we'll need water…"

"And we won't get sponsored…" Watch figured. "Only the careers'll get sponsored."

"You might," Rave said. "You put up an impressive score." That was true. Watch had actually received one of the highest training scores, so perhaps the sponsors would have respected this and paid them in water. "But still, we ought to check."

"We better move out, then."

The two headed back to the house, and along the way they discussed where they might find more water. "And we need weapons," Watch warned. Indeed, they were walking around the arena with no weapons at all. The thought made Rave more and more nervous as they entered the house. "And we need 'em now." The two walked into the foyer and looked around. There was no one.

"Maybe there's something in here," Watch offered. He began looking around the foyer, checking the pots and plants, to see if there was anything worth taking. "What's this?" the man asked, looking at the vase in the middle of the table centered in the room. He picked up the vase and put his hand inside, pulling out a piece of paper after. "A…note?"

Rave tried to get a look at the paper Watch had just revealed. Indeed, it appeared to be some sort of message, perhaps one written by the game-makers themselves. Rave read aloud as Watch read silently. "There are many secrets in this house. Papers with the Capitol's seal are important clues." He looked at the paper nervously.

"So it seems our game-makers have included some hints for us tributes…"

"Yes," Rave said absent-mindedly. "But…where could they be? In a book? I wouldn't even know where to begin looking."

"Neither do I," Watch admitted. "I suggest we don't spend too much time going on this wild goose chase, however. We need to find some more important things first. So, let's go."

"Where to?" Rave asked.

"I have no idea," Watch said. "But somewhere…"

And as the two disappeared from the room, they kept their eyes peeled for any kind of weapon, sign of water, or a slip of paper with the Capitol's seal on it that just might have given them the answers they desperately wanted…

* * *

"_It's so…pretty."_

"_You're out of the arena."_

"_It's beautiful here."_

"_I'm glad you like it."_

"_Am I…dead?"_

"_Do you think you are?"_

"_Well, I remember getting stabbed, and then…wow! My wounds are all gone…"_

"_In a place where there is no murder, you don't have to worry about wounds."_

"_That's a relief. It really is."_

"_I hope you know, there is no shame in hiding."_

"_Even from death?"_

"_Especially from death."_

"_You mean…"_

"_I mean you fought bravely, even if you didn't fight at all. You may not have fought physically, but you did mentally. You chose your morals over your survival."_

"_That was not easy."_

"_I know."_

"_I just…I can't kill."_

"_And that is perfectly okay. You have won other battles. You have battled your mind and you won. You battled your sanity, too."_

"_And did I win?"_

"_You did."_

"_That is great…"_

"_There is something you must do for me."_

"_What is that?"_

"_Imagine your wife. Imagine your children. Can you do it?"_

"_Let's see…wow! I can! I…I can think of them."_

"_And you see their faces?"_

"_I do! Yes, I finally do! I haven't been able to see their faces for days. I…I don't know what was wrong with me. But…yes, they are vivid. I can imagine them at home now…"_

"_And are they happy?"_

"_Yes, they're very happy."_

"_Then they are happy for you. Your death is not good, of course. But they will live their lives not with a mindset of death and unhappiness, but with one of courage and strength. You have proven yourself a true man."_

"_Thank you…thank you so much."_

"_Think of your family often. You will be able to now."_

"_Thank you…I will. I promise I will. Thank you."_

"_I believe it is time to go."_

"_I shall. And I shall go with my head held high. I am ready."_

"_Then let us go."_

"_Wait! I have one question…who exactly are you?"_

"_Call me your bravery; I am what you love and trust. You are a strong man. You have proven this today. You have an unusual sense of heroism, but yet you are a hero, no doubt."_

"_Thank you so much…"_

"_Thank you, too. Raz, you will always be remembered for your unconventional sense of courage. You will be remembered for the strong man you are. You are a hero."_


	13. Day 1 - Evening

**I apologize for the moderately long delay. I wanted to write this chapter a lot more quickly, but I had a really busy week. The next chapters should come faster. Anyway, here's the second part of the games and day 1. **

**RueThisDay: That was definitely one of the more surprising reviews I've ever received. I thought it was hilarious how impressed you were with how long the chapter was (yes, I meant LONG). I hope this isn't a determent from reading the fic, though. Trust me, you don't even really need to read the thing a whole chapter at a time. The chapters are formatted the same way and join in together so that they could really be split just about anywhere. It's more so the character sections that really matter (which are only 1,000 words, typically, or shorter). Anyway, thanks for that review and I hope that if you ever get the chance you will check into reading this story. ;) Thanks again.**

**ghostleon: First, thanks for the correction. I changed it, so hopefully there aren't a lot of confused people out there. Anyway, I'd also like to thank you for your comments on the acid pit and the altar. I wanted to throw in some unusual Capitol-created stuff, and I thought the acid pit would work. It would have been SO much less exciting if that was an actual pond. I hope to throw in some other surprising things as well, but I'll keep my mouth shut regarding the details. :p Thanks again for your awesome continued support and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

* * *

**Day 1 - Evening**

* * *

**Fetch Zimmer (District 14 Male)**

What was that noise? What was all this blackness? Where was he? Fetch opened his eyes slowly. He blinked a few times to steady his vision and propped himself up with the elbows of his arms. He was in the grass. He looked around himself. The sun was beginning to set, offering a warm glow that seemed to make the arena just a tad more beautiful. In front of him stood the staircase that led up to the front porch of the house. As he glanced around his body, he noticed that he was concealed by much of a large bush, for it appeared he has landed next to it before he lost consciousness.

He began to recollect whatever he could. He was searching for his allies: Axem, Stark, and Angel. He was going back through the house when he heard a loud commotion and possible fighting, and was surprised to find a door flung into his face as someone ran outside. Whoever opened the door into his face mustn't have had time to stop and kill him. He was thankful for this. He wasn't sure how it was possible, but someone he managed to survive even in an asleep state.

Thinking of the door made his face hurt, though. As he touched his noise, he winced and shuddered at the pain. His hand seemed to hurt, too…yes, that was from when Jape had trapped it between the metal spokes on the gate. He grumbled and picked himself up. He needed to finish his mission, no matter what the cost might have been.

And so he snuck around the front of the house (along the bushes right next to its east wing) until he reached the side of the house that had the lake. He bypassed it quickly: the water was right out in the open, so he didn't want to risk getting seen. And anyway, the tribute only had a knife with which to defend himself. _Everyone else probably has a bunch of weapons by now…_

He moved to the forest, a place he had not yet explored. As he entered he immediately noticed all of the strange game-maker-created plants that infested the area. He ignored them and moved forward. The forest was thick at some points and created clearings at others. He avoided the clearings and stuck to sneaking around the populous trees and bushes and other plant life.

_Thwip!_

A thin and quick sound caught Fetch's ears. An arrow stuck out from the tree aside of him, mere inches from his head. The tribute gaped at his own unawareness and began to high-tail it away from the area. If a hunter was in the area, the last thing he wanted to do was try to fend them off with his knife. And so, he dashed.

But not before long, he heard, "Fetch! Wait, Fetch!"

The man knew that voice. He stopped his running (but kept walking away at a brisk pace, in case this was a trap) and turned around. He could see through the leaves that Axem was hobbling his way over to the tribute from district fourteen. When Fetch saw Axem, he nearly lost it. "You almost hit me!"

"I'm sorry," Axem said quickly. "I thought—"

"You were trying to kill me, weren't you?" Fetch said in disbelief. He drew his knife on the man with the bow and asked, "Weren't you?"

Axem said, "No, no! You see, I thought you were someone else. From behind, you kinda looked like Xion…"

"Xion?!" Fetch yelled. "Xion?!" Axem tried to quiet him down. "That guy? That guy's like…six inches taller than I am." He looked down at the ground. "And besides, I'm a lot tougher looking than he is." Once more he paused. "And, I have _tattoos_!"

Axem shifted uncomfortably. "I suppose that was a dire error. I…I won't make that mistake again."

"You better not."

Fetch put his knife in his pocket and turned away from the tribute. He thought in his mind how much he hated Axem. The man would only serve to slow him down. Why on Earth had two careers such as Angel and Stark agreed to let Axem join their alliance? Surely, they wanted to lose.

"You know," Axem said.

"Hmm?"

"Our camp isn't far from here. Angel's building a bomb and Stark's trying to find you. I…I had the duty of shooting down any infiltrators."

"And you sure didn't do that too well," Fetch commented. "You practically missed my head by ten feet!"

Axem asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Fetch snorted. "Even if you had hit me I would have lived. It takes more than one little arrow to take someone like me down. Please…" he said condescendingly. "Now, let's move. Take me to this little 'camp'." She shooed Axem to the front of the duo and made him lead. Fetch followed behind, uninterested, and eventually said, "Couldn't you walk any faster?"

"You know I have that leg…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Fetch said to the air. He rolled his eyes and walked behind Axem the rest of the way. He exuded complaints from time to time, but Axem was just thankful that Fetch wasn't out to kill him after the bow and arrow incident. And by the time Fetch was beginning to grow tired from walking, Axem had successfully led him to Angel and Stark.

"Huh," Fetch said. "I thought you were supposed to be looking for me." He pointed to Stark, who shrugged and swallowed awkwardly.

"I was," he said. "Where were you?"

"Never mind that," Fetch said quickly. He turned to Axem. "There are other matters to discuss. This man here tried to kill me earlier. With that very bow. He tried to shoot me from behind. I think…he is untrustworthy."

Angel looked uninterested. "Axem did that? Well, we told him to shoot down anyone he saw."

Fetch looked at her with bulged eyes. "And that included your own partner?"

The male career stepped in. "Now, we didn't know you were going to come walking into our campsite. Please, stop with the over dramatics. Axem didn't fire on you on purpose."

"And do you know that? Can you guarantee that? I don't want to be allying with people who are trying to kill me."

Angel rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Fetch, you complain a lot."

"What?" Fetch asked. "You think I'm complaining? I don't complain. I've been in prison for years now. I can take whatever kind of pain you throw at me. I don't complain. You don't know true suffering until you've been to district fourteen."

"If you're so strong, then why must you worry so much about an unintentional shot?" Angel asked. "Axem obviously wouldn't want to kill you. We need as big a party as we can get."

"Right," the male from district five said.

Fetch grumbled. "You wouldn't sound like that if he actually killed me."

Angel just turned and went back to her bomb-building.

**Fox Berry (District 5 Female)**

Nothing could touch her if she was locked away in a bedroom upstairs for the remainder of the Hunger Games. Fox had claimed a bedroom early on as her own and merely waited. She had done nothing. She had not looked for water, nor had she made a run on the cornucopia. She had immediately took off to the nearest room, which had taken her to a staircase. Once on the staircase, she took it up and up again until she found herself on the fourth floor of the mansion. She had been lying in her bedroom since the beginning of the Hunger Games and showed no signs of wanting to move.

As the hours dragged by, Fox began to wonder just how long she'd be able to stay in that room. The red flower wallpaper seemed like it was taunting her, and the ceiling fan in the room just wouldn't work. Worse yet, the room was stifling. The longer she remained, the less she thought she'd be able to fulfill her plan of waiting the games out.

She grew bored easily, and each time her mind tried to wander from the present to her life back at home, she snapped herself out of the memories. She couldn't succumb to homesickness. That would be the ultimate toll that would drive her over the edge of insanity. So, she kept her mind busy.

That wallpaper…it seemed to be saying something to her. On it were red flowers with unattractively vibrant green stems. They curled around in an art nouveau kind of manner, and by the time the tip of the flower reached the base of the stem, the entire thing just looked like some sort of distorted face. And that face was taunting her. Her mind heard whispers and her ears seemed to be ringing. It was like the wallpaper was telling her she could never win. It was like it was telling her her plan would never work out. She would need food, she learned from the face. The Hunger Games could last weeks. More important, the flower told her, she would need water.

Fox shivered a little bit. It was hot, yet she couldn't help but feel a cold chill run up and down her back. Her hands grew clammy and her mind began to race. She couldn't win, she realized. She'd have to leave. She shook her head a few times, and for a moment she began to think of home. But no…she couldn't do that. She couldn't let her homesickness escape the mental cage in which it was located. Fox tuned the thought out and went back to focusing on the room. She looked out the window and saw the garden and part of the left side of the graveyard. This made her shudder. A graveyard? In a game centered around death?

"You can never win." Fox pulled her head away from the window. It was happening again. She began to wonder if she would be able to stay even a minute longer in that room. Every time her mind tried to think of home, she forbade it. And when she forbade that thought, the wallpaper and its faces began to talk. And when it did, she began to worry. And then, when she worried, she tried to think of home. But…she couldn't let herself. She sighed and looked around the room. Perhaps, she thought, there would be something in there to keep her mind off her thoughts.

But as she explored the room and its emptiness, she realized she was alone. She and that face. She winced and tried to sleep. It was no use. It was too early. She was too hyperactive. And her mind…it wouldn't stop thinking.

**Vyxsin Esher (District 7 Female)**

Vyxsin was in the kitchen looking for a container. Ricco had sent her there after thinking it'd be best to split up. They were on the hunt for a container that they could possibly use to carry around the poisonous juices known as the Quell Drop. Even so much as a touch to the hand of the Quell Drop was enough to kill a person. The poison was activated through simple human contact, so injecting the Quell Drop was more than enough to kill a person. For this reason, she and Ricco would need to make sure they had this poison under control.

There was nothing she could find in the kitchen, though. There were a few cabinets just out of reach at the top of the room, but she didn't really care about those. She ventured out and tried looking for another room. There had to be something to contain the poison in. Perhaps they'd get sponsored?

Vyxsin found herself walking into the ballroom. At the end of the room were a few closets. She moved over to check inside them, but there seemed to be virtually nothing in each one. The final closet, she could tell, had something in it. Even from outside of the closet she could see that there was something inside. She walked quickly over to the doors and began to pull. At first the doors caught on something, but then she pulled harder and was able to open the doors.

And as she did, she felt two pairs of rough hands pull her away from the doors. She yelped out something and struggled to break free of their grasp, but the attempt was useless. Whoever was behind her was strong. They were probably careers.

"You're coming with us," A female said. It was Lilac, Vyxsin could tell. Lilac was vicious.

"Let's go." That was the voice of Xion. Xion was even worse. Vyxsin just screamed. She let out a blood curdling scream at the top of her lungs and tried kicking and flailing her legs and arms.

"Please! No!" She screamed some more as the two careers dragged her out of the room. She felt hot tears streaming down her face as she tried to break free from their grasp. But once again, she stayed where she was. There was no denying she'd never be able to break free from their hold.

"Let's just kill her now!"

"No!" Xion said harshly. "We need her alive. She needs to be a sacrifice!"

"So?"

"You can't sacrifice a dead body. That's why it's called a sacrifice." The two had pulled Vyxsin with them as they exited the room. The non-career was still screaming and yelling and screeching wildly for any kind of help to come. But, the longer she waited, the more she began to lose hope. And with no weapons to help her, she knew there was likely little chance she was going to survive.

The two careers were carrying her up some stairs. Vyxsin had no weapon, and so she resorted to trying to punch Xion and Lilac in their backs. Of course, the careers didn't so much as flinch when she made these attempts. Vyxsin continued to scream louder than ever, and soon the careers slowed to a stop.

They appeared to be at the top floor of the house, and Xion and Lilac were examining a button on the wall. All the while, Vyxsin was held between them and forced around rudely as the other two moved about. And then the wall opened up. Vyxsin looked on in confusion as she saw the elevator doors open. For a second she was calm and confused, but then she remembered Xion use the word "sacrifice". What…were they going to do?!

As the girl was pushed in the elevator, Xion and Lilac were pressing the button marked "B". Vyxsin held her breathe for a second. What was happening? Where was she going? Her heart was thumping and her mind was racing. "Come on," Xion said as the elevator doors closed. He took her roughly by the shoulder and led her into a dark room.

Lilac followed behind her. When Vyxsin saw the massive wall, she screamed. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew this wasn't good. She screamed and kicked and flailed and tried to punch Xion. Lilac came over and elbowed her in the head, quieting the girl to only a low whimper. "Shut up."

Xion took Vyxsin by the arms and began to drag her toward the wall. He spotted the hole at the bottom where the sacrifice needed to be placed, then glanced up at the oasis beyond the wall that always taunted them. He and Lilac both began forcing the screaming girl into the hole, who tried to do anything to ward off the two muscular tributes. She kicked Xion in the face once, but this only made him more angry.

All of Vyxsin's screaming masked what Xion and Lilac failed to hear: the elevator opened.

_Thwack! _Xion went toppling to the ground as he was clobbered on the head with a large and sturdy piece of wood. Lilac whirled around to meet the attacker and received a painful blow upside the face. She staggered backward into the wall, and in an instant Vyxsin was free. The girl looked up to see Ricco's worried face saying, "Run!"

Vyxsin sprang to her feet and darted for the elevator. She began pressing the button as quickly as she could, waiting for the doors to open. It seemed like they were taking years…

Xion was getting back on his feet. Ricco had not heard the doors reopened and so planned to stay with the careers until he'd be able to make a run for it. He swung and missed at Xion, and the career grabbed his sword and began to swing. He parried with Ricco's piece of wood for a second and finally slashed right at his stomach. The wooden board happened to be in the way, and so the sword went straight through the piece of wood, it's tip sticking out the other end mere inches from Ricco's chest.

Now Lilac was back up. She had a sickle in her hand and was screaming like a madwoman. Ricco caught sight of this and made a last ditch effort to keep her away. He flung the board with the sword's tip stuck through it at the girl. Xion, with his hand on the handle, was tossed toward Lilac, board and sword and all. The exposed tip of the blade caught Lilac on the cheek, and immediately she screamed. Xion wrestled with the sword to get it caught out of the wood, and in the meantime Ricco made a run for the elevator. The doors had opened and he and Vyxsin were eagerly waiting for them to close. Xion saw this and charged to the doors with Lilac close behind, but it was too late. The elevator had shut and was already taking them back up whence they came. Ricco put his hand over his heart and was breathing breathlessly. Vyxsin was shaking all over.

"We gotta run," Ricco said. "When these doors open. We gotta run for it."

"They could be coming for us…" Vyxsin realized. She was ready. She and her partner would need to hide until they were safely away from Xion and Lilac. They didn't know what to expect, but the longer they waited in the elevator the more nervous they felt. Finally, the doors to the elevator opened and the two were deposited into the room upstairs.

"Run!" Ricco said. The two made a mad dash for the nearest room, and then kept on running. They ran until they finally felt safe. They ran until they knew the careers wouldn't still be looking for them. Finally, they rested in a room full of wardrobes and closets. Ricco put his hand on Vyxsin's shoulder. "That was close…"

"Thanks."

Ricco looked at her. She looked scared. He was scared, but he knew she was genuinely afraid. He felt bad for her. They'd need to get some weapons. He said, "We need something better than a piece of wood to take on these guys."

Vyxsin looked at him curiously. "How…exactly did you get that piece of wood?"

"Loose floorboard," he laughed. Then he said, "I heard you scream and saw Lilac and Xion take you. I panicked and found the piece of wood. I'm lucky I did…" He thought about this. He was very lucky, indeed…

**Terra Celeantra (District 8 Female)**

Terra had finally gotten back on her feet. She had no weapon, but she was ready for anything the game could have thrown at her. She was using Cloud's death as the fuel for her victory, and she hoped that if she was the victor, her win would be enough to avenge Cloud's merciless death.

But still, the girl grew unstable with each step she took. She felt like she was slowly going insane, and the more she thought of Cloud the less she continued to move. Every once in awhile she would grow so sad she would need to stop to recover. Again and again this happened, until she felt like she could take it no more.

It was then she stumbled upon a room that took her interest off the thought of Cloud's death. It was a room on the second floor of the mansion that was tucked far into the back of its floor plan. From what she could tell, this room was the northernmost room in the entire house. And what she saw walking by the doorway caught her eye in an instant: inside, everything was made of gold. There were pillars inside this room leading up to the very high ceiling, and there were gold benches and chairs and ornate wall hangings. There were decorative items and an abundance of gold candelabras. But what caught her eye even more was what was in the middle of the room: an altar. And in front of this altar was a large gold slab. She walked over after closing the door (the room had no locks) to see what secrets this room held.

Terra incredulously looked on toward the altar and the slab. When she was close enough, she could read what was written on the large golden tablet: _kneel, speak a name, watch_. Beneath this text, written in a tinier font, were the words: _once a person can see death, there is nothing that person can fear_.

The girl from district eight didn't move. She just stared down at that slab. She didn't know what those words were supposed to mean, but she felt that she should do whatever this text wanted her to do before she left. And so, she kneeled.

The short bench onto which she kneeled was solid and uncomfortable. It hurt her knees to kneel there, but this did not deter her from what she knew she needed to do next. "Cloud McKnight," she said quietly. She looked solemnly down at the ground, and then around the chamber. A bright flash illuminated the entire room, and when the whiteness disappeared from her vision, she could see Cloud's face projected onto the side of a large gold temple that stood within the middle of the room. And then he began to move. It looked like he was searching for something. Indeed, he was underneath the cornucopia, looking around for a bag that could have helped him in surviving the Hunger Games.

The man then let out a battle cry, and with his mace, swung at the oncoming Xion. The two clashed and exchanged blows for a few short seconds. Xion held a massive sword and was wielding it like a professional. Cloud was on the ground. Terra knew she had been no farther than fifty feet away at that point. Couldn't she have jumped in to save him? She had no weapon, surely. But she just didn't move. She stood there. And then Xion was merciless. He brought the sword down into Cloud's back, and for a moment Terra's heart stopped. And then the career pushed the sword all the way through, leaving Cloud hunched and dead.

From the altar Terra watched with tears in her eyes. Couldn't she have done something to save him? Watching Cloud's death just made her angry. Xion was merciless, and now she would be merciless, too. She stood up and made for the door.

She didn't really have a plan, but she knew she couldn't keep crying like this. Is she went to leave the room, still sobbing, she thought she heard the sound of something metal turning. Yes…wait! It was the doorknob! She dove behind one of the pillars that kept the ceiling aloft and stood breathlessly behind it. As the door opened, she heard the sound of someone walking into the room.

"Terra, where'd you go?" someone asked. Her mind was whirling. Was that…Feyot's voice? How would he have known she was in there? She remained motionless. This was a trap, surely. Feyot always seemed so nice, but she knew for sure he was luring her into something. So she stood and waited. She was defenseless, but she was ready to give her fist fighting a whirl if it came down to it.

She heard him move. He was going closer to her position. She breathed heavily. And when she saw a shadow on the left loom up along side her, she quickly leapt out from behind the pillar and tackled the man who was waiting. As she pummeled him he screamed, "No! Wait!" Terra thought he seemed harmless enough, so she moved from him but kept her yes on him at all times.

"What…are you doing here? How did you know I was in here?"

Feyot looked tired. He sounded out of breath, too, and was. He looked at her and said, "I saw you walk in. I…I heard you crying." He sounded sad. "You…watched his death, didn't you?" Terra's angry expression turned into one of confusion. Then a tear began to run down her face. She nodded. Feyot sighed. "I knew it."

"How did you know?"

"Because…" he said quietly. "Before, I watched Katz's death."

Terra looked at him in shock. "Before? You…you used the altar, too?"

"Yeah…" he said sadly. "I don't even know why. I mean, I didn't even like Katz. She didn't even like me. Still, she was my partner. I…I had to watch her death one more time…" He looked at the ground with a pained expression on his face. As the female listened to his words, she began to grow confused. Something he said didn't seem to make sense…

" 'One more time?' " she asked. "You mean you saw it happen the first time? I though…you would have run…"

"No," Feyot said. "I actually…" He looked a little mortified. "I made a run for the cornucopia. And so, I was there to see Katz get killed by Moon. I was near the door. I was running out when I saw it happen. I had no time to save her."

Terra asked, "Would you have been able to? I mean, did you have a weapon?"

Feyot smiled a little bit. She had failed to notice the big sword he held by his side. When she finally understood, she looked at him in shock. "You…you have a sword?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, and…" He looked at Terra. "I'd like to give it to you." He held up the blade. "You're a great sword fighter." The girl looked like she was on the brink of tears again. She touched the blade and and let a few tears fall from her cheeks all the while.

"But…you'll have no weapon…"

"I can find one," Feyot said casually. "You can use this better than I can." He handed her the sword. She took it and tried wielding it. It was well made and heavy. She would put this to good use… "I…I just want one thing in return."

"What's that?"

"I want…to ally with you. I feel so unsafe."

Terra smiled. "I was hoping you would ask," she said. "Of course I'd like to ally with you. If I didn't, Cloud would be rolling over in his grave…" She realized this was probably true. She and Cloud had no quarrels with Feyot. She would do anything to protect him.

**Watch Zayonia (District 11 Male)**

"I am so thirsty," Rave whispered. It had only been a few hours and yet Rave's voice did sound mysteriously dry. Watch tried to ignore this, though. He had, as of that moment, no desire or need to drink something. If Rave kept on complaining, he knew soon enough that he would feel these same effects of dehydration. "We need to find water."

"Didn't you drink before the games? That's the first thing I did."

"It's just so hot…" That was true. The mansion and the outside were stiflingly hot. The air was moist and damp and the sun beat down over the arena like a giant candle flame in the sky. Luckily, though, the sun had almost set. They were in for a hopefully cool night that night…

"None of the faucets work," Watch said. "And…that pool of acid outside."

"Can't drink that."

The two were near the room with the cornucopia. They tried to avoid that room as much as possibly and cover enough ground as they possibly could. The house was like a large maze with many tiny hallways and hundreds of rooms. The entire building was so unrealistically expansive that it made Watch wonder how much money it took to build something that large.

Rave was twiddling with a spear. He was lucky he had found it, too. He and Watch had been exploring a dated-looking guard hall with many armored knight statues. Rave had spotted one of the statues clutching humorously a spear in its hand, and so the man quickly retrieved the weapon. It wasn't a sword or anything too destructive, but it was a weapon, nonetheless.

The two descended the back staircase and were creeping through the halls in the northern wing. "What's in here?" Watch asked as the two entered the dimly lit room that piqued his interest. The man realized that very few rooms seemed to have electricity. Many of the rooms in the mansion required candles, while others had no lights at all. At night, the mansion would be an entirely different place…

"It's a library," Rave realized, trying to squint to see. "Let's go in."

"I bet there's a message from the Capitol somewhere in here, you know?" Watch wondered. He entered the room and began to look around. Surely in one of those books was a page with the Capitol's seal on it. And if they found it, it would definitely provide a big and important clue. He thought back to the mysterious paper he and Rave had found and knew that the Captiol wanted someone to find their hidden clues. And so, Watch decided to take them up on that offer.

The two began to look through the books. Most of them were standard issue books written by some wealthy person from the Capitol, and several of them were old fiction classics that didn't really seem very interesting. The room really was a full-fledged library. Finally, Rave came upon a book that looked out of place. As he neared it to get a better look, a smile formed on his face. He reached for the book's spine and pulled it out, taking it over to Watch.

"What's this?" Watch took the book from him. He turned it to its cover: _201st Annual Hunger Games_. "Wait a second. That means…this book was written for these Hunger Games. Which means…"

"There must be a clue inside," Rave said. He urged Watch to open it, and as the man did, the two looked down at the only words written in the entire book: _"Don't sleep in the bedrooms at night."_

" 'Don't sleep in the bedrooms?' " Rave repeated. He scrunched up his face and looked stupidly over at his friend. "Why? I mean…I wonder…"

"That…is good to know. I can't imagine what's going to happen to someone who sleeps there…"

Rave didn't have the answer, but a chill rushed up his spine. "So I guess we should sleep outside tonight, then."

"I…actually have a better idea," Watch said. He glanced around the dark room. "This room is…big. And it has a lot of bookcases, meaning its not easy to spot someone in here. I suggest we make this room our bedroom."

"And it's dark," Rave said.

"And…" Watch began. "The floor's made of wood, so it squeaks a lot. If someone tries to sneak in…" He trailed off and let Rave mentally piece together the rest of hi realization. The man from district nine nodded and admitted the library would make a better bedroom than most rooms would. "Than it's settled."

Rave looked around but still didn't seem satisfied. "But…what about water? We need to find water…" He made a pleading face that made Watch feel rather bad for the man. "If we explored the forest, there might be a little hidden spring."

"Yes, but…" Watch sighed. "We can't. The forest is…dangerous. I mean, there are probably a lot of people in the forest. And we don't have much fighting experience, so we really need to avoid any places that will force us to confront someone."

Rave wanted to object, but didn't. It was Watch who spoke next, and he promised Rave they would go hunting for water elsewhere later that day. Rave nodded incredulously. "Okay," he said, looking out the one and only window in the entire room. It was near the ceiling and was a large stained glass display that let many colorful hues of light into the room. But those lights were…going away. "It's getting dark."

"Good," Watch said. "It will make doing things easier."

"But," Rave whispered, "I don't think this'll be a good dark."

**Hope Pearl (District 9 Female)**

"We have no weapons, we have no food, we don't even have a place to sleep, and now we have no water!" Hope exclaimed. She was flailing her arms around as she spoke and was yelling in a rather conspicuous manner. She, Thea, and Jape were in a third-floor tea room that was in the very upper right corner of the house.

Jape stood there with a charred bucket. The acid-water had eaten the plastic away from the bucket and sent a certain surprise Jape's way. "I…I can't believe that whole pond is just a vat of acid. I think…someone's really going to get hurt in there."

"Indeed. Can you imagine if you had stuck your hand in there?" Thea asked. Her face looked concerned.

Hope didn't really care about the well-being of her non-coalitionists, though. If they had stuck their hands in a vat of acid, she couldn't care less. She merely paced around the room and constantly looked about in a worried manner.

"Hope, you should take a breath," Thea said wearily. "Please. You look…like you're hurt."

"I am hurt!" Hope said loudly. "I…I'm mentally scarred! And…I'm so scared! I can't believe I'm doing this!" She looked around the room worriedly. "But don't worry about me. I…I would give anything for you guys."

Jape and Thea thanked her. Then Jape spoke. "I…I'm going to go look for some water." He turned on his heels, and denied Thea's suggestion that she help him. He quickly opened and closed the door to the tea room and scurried out. He didn't go looking for water.

"I'm gonna die," Hope said quickly. "I…"

"Hope, please—"

"No! Thea, you don't know what it's like to have a family!" She said. Then she paused and looked at the other. She could tell Thea was hurt by what she said. She sighed and said, "That's…I'm sorry. I mean…"

"It's okay," Thea said quietly. She did seem rather offended and wanted to explain that she wanted anything more than to have a family. She had had a husband who died young. That was the only true family she had ever known after moving away from her parents. "It's okay, really."

Hope just looked angry at herself. "No, I am truly sorry. I…sometimes I say things…"

"Don't worry about it," Thea said. "You were right, after all. I don't have a family. I don't know what it will be like to leave my kids and my grandkids when I die. I don't know what it's like to have a husband who you know you'll never be able to see again."

Hope didn't say anything. She didn't want to. She had done so much complaining and worrying that day that she felt she didn't need to say anything more. Instead, she just thought about Thea's words. When she finally did speak again, she was changing the subject. "We…need a plan."

"And fast," Thea said. "But…I don't think I'll be able to do much fighting."

"Then it looks like we will not be of much help to Jape…"

Thea realized this and said, "Maybe we don't need a plan. Maybe…we just need to let things happen. The only plan I have formed is my plan to sacrifice myself to save either you or Jape if need be. I…I truly hope that doesn't need to happen."

Hope smiled warmly. "And you know I will stick by your side forever." She didn't say anything more. Her mind began to wander. As it did, she realized something: thanks to Thea's kind and supportive words, she was no longer screaming hysterically. So, maybe she'd be able to pull through after all…

**Axem Jades (District 5 Male)**

The wind was whipping up in the trees. That's where Axem was perched with his bow and arrow, ready to strike anyone who dare enter the vicinity. He waited and waited and the job became boring. He should have been used to being patient — given his past hunting expertise — but he found himself wanting to move. At first he thought he was beginning to get mind controlled by the games; shouldn't perching and doing nothing have been exactly what he wanted? Surely, he didn't want to kill, right?

Of course he didn't want to kill, he thought. He wasn't getting mind controlled at all, but merely didn't like exposing his only weaponry skills in a game so inhumane. He felt that by waiting in those trees, he was making a mockery of his talent and playing into the Capitol's game. He wanted to throw down his bow and wait for his death, but he knew he couldn't die. He had a family, and he was waiting for grandchildren. He couldn't just quit out on life yet. It would be uncourageous.

A sound caught him by the ears. He looked up. He heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Fetch coming up slowly from the bushes and trees. Fetch looked miserable and unhappy and seemed like he wanted nothing more than to die right then and there. But Fetch was strong. Surely he wasn't losing his mind.

Axem watched the man as he came mumbling over to the tree Axem was in. Fetch rolled his eyes and made a face as he approached the man. Axem just waited. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he wasn't going to question it.

"Axem," Fetch began, his voice miserable. "This is so stupid," he muttered. He looked up at the man in the trees. He shook his head, rubbed his temples and moaned something. Axem was just confused all the while, but still said not a word.

"What?"

"I guess I'm supposed to 'apologize'," Fetch mumbled. "For my behavior earlier."

Curious, Axem looked down at the man. He seemed miserable and as though he would rather be anywhere but there. Axem felt a little happy to hear that Fetch was willing to apologize, but then realized that it wasn't heartfelt at all. "Did Angel and Stark put you up to this?"

"You called it," Fetch said quickly. "Apparently we need a good team dynamic. I still think you're pretty useless — no offense — given your leg and you mediocre shooting, but I guess I'm willing to call you a friend." It looked like he had to go through some sort of mental torture to speak those words.

Axem smiled. "That…that means a lot, you know."

"Whatever," Fetch said quietly.

Silence hung in the air.

"Thanks," Axem added.

"C'mon down," Fetch said. "Stark said that a 'true man would shake hands on it'. That guys an idiot." Axem smiled at his comment. As angry as Fetch was, Axem couldn't help but laugh. Fetch was actually beginning to open up to him.

Axem got down from the tree and said to Fetch, "I know you'll still probably hate me, but I hope you know that I don't hate you."

Fetch looked around at anything but Axem. "Yeah…" he said quickly. "Let's get this over with…" He extended his hand a for a moment Axem felt like something truly good came out of the Hunger Games. In this world of chaos and pain, Axem felt like for once something good came out of something bad. He smiled and took Fetch's hand and gave it a firm handshake.

"Thanks," Axem said. The two exchanged a long and quiet handshake.

"Thank _you_," Fetch said. "You are too kind, Axem." And with that comment he plunged his knife into Axem's chest. For a moment Axem just stared at him. Nothing happened and the world seemed like it was on pause.

"Fetch…" Then the world caught up with the moment and Axem looked down at the wound. His chest was bleeding out and the knife was several inches deep into his skin. He didn't say another word, but merely crumbled under the weight of his now-weak body. He fell to his knees and looked up at Fetch as best as he could. The man from district fourteen didn't smile or say a word. He just looked disgusted.

And then, Fetch reached down and withdrew the knife from the man's chest. Axem let out a cough and crumbled even more underneath his weight. Then, his head struck the forest floor, and the picture of Fetch's shoes was the last thing Axem ever saw.

_Boom!_

**September Realer (District 14 Female)**

Neither Sapphire nor September spoke. They just walked. September drug the ball and chain around behind her leading the duo. Sapphire seemed rather confused as she walked behind. This wasn't her idea of the Hunger Games. September, as strong as she was, didn't really do much. Sapphire didn't really like this, and the more and more she followed the district fourteen girl, the more she felt that things weren't right.

September wasn't looking to kill just anybody, though. A life, September knew, was a very fragile thing that need not be broken with no cause. September was a killer. She knew it, as did everyone else. But she didn't kill for fun or for a sense of power. She killed because she thought she had to.

So, when Sapphire wanted to jump into the action, September wasn't interested. She wanted her kills to be worthwhile. She wasn't to seek revenge on those who needed to be dealt a heavy and painful blow. She wasn't going to just kill. Each kill had to be memorable, and each kill had to be worth her while. This is what she thought about as she walked.

"_What shall we call her?"_

"_Call her…Cherish."_

"_Because we shall cherish her always?"_

"_Yes…"_

…

"_Won't you play today?"_

"_Not today."_

"_But…why not?"_

"_We've never played, September."_

…

"_Why…did you name her Cherish?"_

"_Because she is our third child, sweetie. And because she is our youngest and maybe our last. And the last one of anything needs to be cherished."_

"_And…why did you name me September?"_

"_Never mind that, dearie. The baby is crying. Go watch her."_

…

"_Your daughter is a terror."_

"_She's your daughter, too, you know."_

"_We ought to punish her again."_

"_Did she escape her room again?"_

"_She did, and it's annoying. September is…crazy. How does someone like her come about?"_

"_Every batch of kids has a bad one, I suppose. Then look at Cherish."_

"_What are we going to do with her?"_

"_She's escaped her bedroom countless times. How can you punish someone who escapes punishment?"_

"_What about the basement? It's got no windows and it's locked with a key and a latch."_

"_I'd like to see her escape that."_

…

"_Why, it is just _so _nice you could make it today!"_

"_Come say hi to Uncle Vipe, kids."_

"_My, look how they've grown! This must be Cherish. The last time I saw you you were a little baby!"_

"_You should visit district eight more often. Don't you think, kids?"_

"_Yes! Yes, please."_

"_You sound just like your mother, Cherish."_

"_And she acts like me, too!"_

"_Wait a second. Where's your third? September?"_

"_September is…away."_

"_With friends?"_

"_Friends? Yes…yes, she is."_

…

"_September, I just don't know what to do with you."_

"_I don't care, Dad."_

"_You should. You've been awful to your sister all day. And it's not just today. It's every day. And your brother days he hasn't spoken to you in a long time. Where do you go all day?"_

"_Cherish is a suck up. I'm not awful to her. She deserves it."_

"_She does not."_

"_Mom loves her too much."_

"_Your mother loves her because she is a good girl."_

"_That's not true. Mom always hated me. And you have, too."_

"_I do? We cook you dinner and we give you a place to sleep. I think spending a few nights in the basement would serve you well."_

"_What? N-no…"_

"_Yes—what's this?"_

"_A drawing, obviously."_

"_Of what? Who is this? Who are these people supposed to be? And…is that blood? Why is that person dead? And what's this thing…"_

"_Stop looking."_

"_Why are you drawing this?! Do you plan to kill someone? Speak!"_

"_No! They're my friends! The people in the picture."_

"_Imaginary friends? Your drawings are your friends? You don't _have _any living friends, because no one wants to _be _your friend!"_

"_Dad—"_

"_You call them your friends? All the people in this picture are _dead_!"_

"_Death isn't a bad thing!"_

"_I'm showing your mother!"_

"_Dad, there are good things in death. My friends are not dead, but alive in a—"_

"_Shut up! Now! Follow me! And bring your little drawings!"_

September felt her hand cringe around her weapon's chain. She was moving a little bit faster; she was obviously riled up about _something_.

"September, we need to make a plan. There are bedrooms upstairs. We should—"

"Does Torque have a bedroom?"

"What? W-why?"

"Answer me."

Sapphire looked shyly at the other girl. She fidgeted around for a moment and then answered, "Yes, he does. Why does that matter?" She was afraid of what she was going to hear, but yet she listened as closely as she possibly could.

"We should…pay him a visit."

"Visit?" Sapphire asked.

"He is obviously going to be a problem. I think it would be better if we…took care of the problem."

"The problem?" she repeated. "No…he's not a problem. He's a good person."

"But didn't you say he had a problem with me? That he wouldn't ally with me? What does that tell you? He doesn't like me, or he plans on killing me."

"No…it…it just means that maybe he wants to hunt alone. He…"

"Don't defend him, Sapphire. If you were dying, would he defend you? He would not. You can't trust anyone in this game. There can only be one winner." As September spoke, Sapphire strained to hear every last word. The girl from district ten grew weary. She didn't particularly know what September's comment was supposed to tell her, but something about the girl just seemed rather odd. For the moment, Sapphire was hoping she had listened to Torque more.

"But…" She didn't speak any more. She paused and let her word die, and then walked in silence. September was giving her a cold glare as Sapphire tried to refute her statement, so Sapphire spent much of their seemingly endless exploration throughout the mansion not looking at September.

September didn't speak much more to Sapphire at that time. She was disappointed she wouldn't be able to kill Torque, but she thought that maybe someone would arrive who would be much more worthwhile killing.

_Thhhump…_

_Thhhump…_

_Thhhump…_

* * *

"_I feel…alive."_

"_You are alive. You are alive in death."_

"_I…I didn't want to die."_

"_That is okay. Your death is not your fault."_

"_It is…I am too trusting."_

"_You see the good in people. You wanted to see what good might have come out of a person."_

"_But…isn't that a flaw? I died because of that."_

"_You died because you were lied to. You did nothing wrong…"_

"_I could have been more careful."_

"_You could have. And perhaps you would have lived. But…that wouldn't have removed the thought of murdering you out of your killer's mind. That thought and intention is not your fault."_

"_You know…you might be right."_

"_I believe I am."_

"_Thank you for your kind words."_

"_Thank you, as well. You are a good person to know."_

"_I appreciate that. But…I wish I was not dead."_

"_I am not surprised. But soon, you will learn to cope with death. You will learn that death is okay…"_

"_But I can't. Not without my wife…"_

"_Your wife will miss you, no doubt. But…you have two children to keep her company. Both of them always reminded her of you more than they did herself. And…perhaps they will have kids of their own."_

"_Grandchildren…"_

"_Indeed. Your wife will never be alone. She can't be while she's surrounded by so many loving and caring faces. And all of those faces remind her of you."_

"_But…if she remembers me, she'll be sad. She'll miss me."_

"_She might. She will also see the good in you, though. She will be ready and waiting to reunite with you some day. And until that day, she will live her years as a loving and caring mother and grandmother."_

"_You know a lot. Who are you?"_

"_I am a person you can trust."_

" '_Trust…' "_

"_Yes. And you know, trust is very important. Even if it can lead to bad things, trust is more noble than deceit."_

"_Yes it is…"_

"_I hope you see now that your death, although premature, was not your own fault. I hope you can cope with your death."_

"_I…think I will. Thank you."_

"_I truly hope you will. Axem, you will always be remembered for your trusting nature and for your belief that all people—even those who don't seem so—are good. I also encourage you to walk around on your new leg. It may take getting used to, but in death there is truly a new life…"_


	14. Day 1 - Night

**Hoowee! That chapter was...long. Actually, I didn't work on it for most of those days, so it really didn't take me that long to write. Anyway, I apologize for the delay, but I'm happy to say that I'm looking forward to the upcoming chapters.**

**Seriously, I am so excited to write some of the stuff I want to happen...**

**ghostleon: I'm glad you were a fan of the last chapter! Yeah, it's never easy to kill someone off, but...when you gotta do it, I guess you gotta do it. Also, I'm happy you're making guesses at the death sequences, and I am happy of what you thought of the chapter as a whole. Let's hope some of your favorites don't fall short of victory so early...Anyway, thank you very much for your review.**

**Also, I'm splitting the chapters up into times of day (in case you didn't know, already .). Days will go like this: Morning Afternoon Evening Night Small Hours**

**So, five chapters make up a day. Anyway, happy reading!**

* * *

**Day 1 - Night**

* * *

**Angel Maxim (District 4 Female)**

"Where's Fetch?" Angel asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. She looked at Stark, and he only shrugged. He didn't seem too interested in the whereabouts of his least favorite alliance member, and even though he hated to admit it, he was almost hoping Fetch decided to leave their coalition.

"I dunno. Maybe he left. Maybe he and Axem are best friends now. I don't care."

"What's your problem?" Angel asked. "We need him. He's important." He mind wandered. "Wait. Didn't the cannon go off?"

"The…cannon?" Stark asked slowly. "Wait…I…yes, I believe it did. You're not saying—"

"I don't know what I'm saying…" Angel began. The expression on her face was one of worry and one of nervousness. She tried to peer through the trees to see if she could find Fetch, but the shade of the trees coupled with the complete disappearance of the sun made it hard to see.

"Do you wanna go look for him?"

"Wait!" Stark held up his hand. "Listen…" There was a crunching noise coming somewhere from the outskirts of the forest. It seemed to be getting closer and louder, as though someone was coming their way. Maybe…it was Fetch? But still, something just sounded so odd. They listened. The hairs on Stark's arm stood up, and Angel tried to reach for anything nearby to use as a weapon. She picked up a heavy stick and turned to Stark. He shakily held the shurikens he had found and prepared for what could be a deadly battle.

The stepping grew louder. Who was it? Angel positioned herself next to her district partner and waited. The crunching stopped. Silence filled the air. It was so dark that Angel needed to squint to see mere feet in front of her. What was the noise? What was it?

Angel clutched her stick and just waited. For the first time in the entire Hunger Games she began to feel cold. Something wasn't right about whoever was lurking in the woods.

"Hey Angel." A hand grabbed Angel's shoulder and the girl screamed. She flailed her hand about and tried to swing at the man behind her, but she missed and felt his hand grab hers. She shrieked, but it only took a quick moment to see Fetch's grinning face looking back at her. Her frightened face turned into anger as she shook him off.

"I hate you."

Fetch burst into laughter, and Stark was too shocked to reply. Fetch was laughing and showing more emotions than Stark had ever seen. This angered him, though. Stark had thought Fetch a smart and strategic player, but now he was proving himself a whiny, full-of-nonsense player. "Quiet down."

The tribute from district fourteen cut off his laughter quickly with a glare. He looked at Stark for a few seconds and then said, "Don't be such a fool just because I scared you and your little girlfriend. Besides, there are _four_ of us! If someone sneaks up—well—we can gut them like a fish."

"With what weapons? Have you noticed that we are kind of lacking?"

Fetch snarled. "I have a knife and you have those ninja stars. If you're even a decent thrower it should be easy to kill someone."

Stark didn't reply, but instead moved toward the tree to lean against it. He was exhausted and overwhelmed, and he didn't want to battle with Fetch about whether they had an ample weapons supply.

"What's that?" Angel asked, looking at Fetch's hand. Fetch looked down at the raw and blackened skin that was peeling off of it and concealed it quickly. Angel looked suspicious and asked again, "What's that? Are you in pain?"

"No," he said. "I…I just had a little tussle back there. It's nothing to worry about. Got my hand cut a little bit."

Stark looked at his hand now, too. "Cut? That thing looks like it's been burned."

Fetch did not respond. He looked at Angel and Stark and shrugged. Instead, Angel asked the next question. "Where's Axem? Fetch, were you with him?" Her eyes grew even more suspicious as she looked at the unmoving tribute.

"Axem…no, I have not seen him."

Stark then said, "Wait, didn't a cannon go off?"

"It did," Angel said. "He should've been back by now." She put her hand to her lips. Could…Axem be dead? One of their alliance members? She looked at Fetch one more time and saw the disinterest in his eyes. Angel looked at him very seriously and spoke very dramatically. "Fetch…did you…kill him?"

"What?" Fetch asked, acting as though the proposition was such a far-out supposition that obviously couldn't be correct. "Well," he said, sighing. Then he shrugged. "Yeah, I killed him. But trust me, it was for his own go—"

"What?!" Angel screamed. Stark's jaw dropped in disbelief, and the two stared at Fetch with a sense of shock in their eyes. Neither knew what to say.

"As I was—"

"I can't believe this," Stark commented. He then looked at Fetch in the eyes and asked, "Why?! Why would you do that?! He was great with the bow and arrow! He…why?!" He got closer to Fetch, who took out his knife quickly and held it in front of himself.

"Don't do anything stupid, Stark." As the career backed away, Fetch sheathed his knife. Then he said, "I killed him because…he was slowing us down."

"We're not _moving_!" Angel screamed.

"But still!" Fetch said. "What if we journeyed into the forest further? What if…what if he stabbed us in the back? We couldn't trust him."

Stark couldn't believe it. "Why not?!"

"Think!" Fetch yelled. "He's not a career! In the end, he would just want us dead, anyway. Sure, only one player can win, but he wasn't the kind of person who would root for us even after he died. He didn't want any of us to win, obviously! He just wanted to use us to propel him further in the game. And then…who knows what would happen."

"That…is really far-fetched," Angel said.

"No it's not!" Fetch said defensively. "He would've betrayed us. I know it…" There was silence. Angel was too furious to even respond, and Fetch knew better than to keep talking. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. Would they banish him from the group? Would they kill him right there? Could they do that? Would they do that? These thoughts whirled around in his mind, yet no one was speaking. Finally, he asked, "Hey, Angel. How's that bomb going?"

The girl didn't respond immediately. She looked at Stark, who looked away. "Actually," Angel began, "It's nearly done. It should be ready in just a little bit. It's…it's not too powerful, and the sponsors didn't really give me great materials to work with. But, I'm still confident I'll be able to blow something up."

"How long 'til it's ready?"

"About an hour," Angel replied to Stark.

"Good," Fetch said. "Now get back to work. I think we should wait it out here for a while. Or maybe Stark and I can go lookin' for food."

Stark perked up. He didn't want to go running around the forest with only Fetch at his side, but he _was_ hungry. But he wasn't only hungry. His throat was dry and he knew the effects of lack of water were going to get to him. "We need water, really. We should look for that, first. There's the pond outside the forest. We should go get a drink."

"No!" Fetch yelled. "I mean, I just don't think that's the priority right now. Also, that water looked dirty."

"Dirty? Who cares? As long as it's water…"

"I just don't trust it," Fetch said. "You know the Capitol. They might've poisoned the water."

"Do you think?"

"Answer me this: do you really think the Capitol would give us water that easily? No, they wouldn't. I saw the pond. It looks…unsavory."

Stark pondered this. "Well, where can we get water?"

"I don't know," Fetch said, looking seemingly through Stark's eyes. "But I think our answer may lie deeper in this forest." He turned and looked on at the dense jungle in front of him. The moon in the sky was rising, yet it gave off no apparent light in the forest; the trees ate up all of the moonlight and left the tributes in a nearly pitch-black thicket of trees.

"I suppose," Stark said. He took the first step into the forest. But as he did, he was sure to watch Fetch to make sure he didn't pull any kind of moves on him. He had killed Axem. Would Fetch find Stark an equally unworthy tribute?

**Feyot Jasperite (District 13 Male)**

Feyot twirled a staff around in his hand. He and Terra had managed to successfully find a weapon lying alone underneath the overhang of the cornucopia, and so they took it. The venture was scary, however. They thought they heard voices coming from a nearby room, and Terra was certain there was going to be a career waiting for them as they made their run on the golden colossus.

"Good weapon," Feyot commented.

"Know how to use it?" Terra asked seriously. She had seen his fighting skills. They left a lot to be desired, and so the girl grew weary of whether Feyot would prove to be a valuable fighter. She valued his friendship, but in the event of a two-on-two battle, she wanted to know beforehand if the battle was more one-sided.

"I'll mange, I think…"

As Terra walked with him, she couldn't help but feel an impending sense of nervousness. She almost wanted to tell Feyot to run and hide, and to never return to her side. She wanted to protect him, but she also wanted revenge. And before she knew it, she was spilling her entire story to Feyot once more. "Will I ever forgive myself?"

"Terra," Feyot said in a kind-mannered and kind-hearted voice. "You mustn't beat yourself down like that. Think about it: you had no sword then. Did you even have a weapon?"

"I didn't."

"Then how would you have been able to save him? If you jumped into the battle, you and I both know that Xion would've attacked you both. You both would've died. Cloud wouldn't want that. That would be even worse. He's happy, now. He's happy knowing that you're doing what you're supposed to do; you're protecting me."

Terra looked up at him. She didn't seem so sure his words were helping her. But she knew that he was trying. She smiled warmly. "Perhaps you are right. Maybe…I was destined to save you."

Feyot nodded. "Exactly." He smiled. "Cloud would want to know that your destiny was fulfilled. If you died at the start with him, the weaker tributes would have no protection. Terra, you are truly the strongest tribute in this game."

"Strongest?"

"Strongest of heart, at least. You have lost a friend. Most people would feel wounded and as though the game were out to get them. But you didn't. You blamed yourself. But I'm here to tell you that you don't need to worry. You're too much of a kind person to let Cloud's death interfere with what you want to do."

Terra considered this. Something inside her began to burn. But it didn't hurt. She felt warm and safe. She felt like something inside her had just been refueled. She didn't feel weepy anymore. She looked at Feyot and saw so many good qualities. She couldn't let him die. She had to be there for him. "Thank you,"

Feyot accepted her thank you and quieted down. He thought for a second, and then asked, "What are we doing? I mean, are we going somewhere specific?"

"We should go outside," Terra suggested. "Have you been outside yet?"

"Briefly."

"Then let's go," she said. "We can find water out there, I'm sure."

And so the two went. They followed no direct path, but they looked for staircases that would descend to the first floor. Along the top and easternmost part of the house was a small, dank room. Inside was a large chandelier illuminated by its many candles. They used this glowing light to descend the dusty staircase that spiraled downward. "Do you remember how to find this?" Terra asked. "This…is a really good place to hide."

"It's so dark."

The two continued, and when they reached the bottom of the staircase, they found a lone door. This door led them outside and into the backyard. The first thing they saw was a cemetery. Terra shrieked and Feyot looked at it in anxiety. A cemetery was never a good sign. And it definitely wasn't a good one in a game all about death.

"Let's go," Terra said, trying not to look at the gravestones. The look of them made her sick. "I…let's go."

And the two went. They explored the nearby vicinity briefly before moving on. They saw the large pond and the forest. The moon was out and things seemed eerie as they walked. The grass made too much noise as they walked, and the bugs and insect-life outside made for a dull-sounding ensemble of clicking and chirping. But still, they felt like they were being watched. They were out in the open. A piece of grass tickling Terra's leg made her jump. It could've been a poisonous bug, she thought.

As the two made it to the pond to take a drink, a fluttering noise made Feyot shriek. "What is that?" he asked. The two looked up, and floating down from the sky was a parachute with a golden ball attached to it. The ball was large and must've contained something big inside. They looked at it as it floated down, yet neither knew whom it was for. Instead of arguing, they shared in the opening of the ball and found several unopened water bottles inside.

"That's odd," Terra said. "Why…would they give us water right before we were about to take a drink?"

"Maybe to fill up the water bottles with more water?"

Terra shook her head. "They would've given us a flask, or something. She looked down into the water. Something was in there, she realized. "Don't drink from the pond. There…there must be something wrong with it."

Feyot knew she was probably right. He wasn't sure, but what she said seemed to make sense. They wouldn't give them water bottles right then. There must've been something inside the pond that shouldn't have been drunk. Feyot paused. "Let's go. Into the forest."

**Fox Berry (District 5 Female)**

The bedroom was growing cold. For as warm as it was in the daytime, the bedroom in which Fox was trying to get some rest was slowly chilling itself. She wanted to leave, for the cold mixed with the haunting red wallpaper made her feel like death was imminent. Again, the wallpaper began its laughing. She felt teased and taunted. What kinds of tricks was her mind playing on her?

She tried to forget this. She realized after a few minutes that her mind was a deadly weapon. It could project images and thoughts she had never wanted to imagine. So if she believed in her heart that the vibrant green stems on the wallpaper were ascetically pleasing and nothing more, perhaps she'd been able to relax.

But it was so cold. What was going on? She began to feel oddly weightless. She felt, for a second, like she were floating off the bed. She wrapped a blanket around herself. This only made her feel colder. What was happening? Why was she feeling this way.

Her heart skipped as the clock in her bedroom chimed, giving her the knowledge that is was then ten o'clock. She shivered once more and decided that she ought to get some sleep. But…wait. What was that?

She heard a hissing noise. It sounded like something coming from above her. She looked up and scanned the room. Wait a second…there was something above her. There was a noxious gas spewing from the vent above her bed. At first she thought this was some sort of poison, but then she remembered that this was something else. She had seen something like this before on a previous Hunger Games.

They were shooting Fear Vapors into her room. And…if she recalled correctly…

She recollected back many years when the Fear Vapors were introduced…

Yes! She remembered: Fear Vapors played upon a tribute's worst fears. It was merely fumes that turned a tribute insane. Wait…insane?!

Fox shot up. She threw the blankets from her and onto the floor, but as she did, she could tell her body was becoming accustomed to the vapors very quickly. Her vision grew blurry and the world seemed to be spinning. As she tried to get out of bed, she fell to the floor and landed with a thud. Her legs weren't working. Or, at least, it seemed her mind was convinced they weren't.

She released a loud shriek and clutched her head. The fumes were messing with her brain and giving her a headache. Her brain felt like it was going to shoot right out of her forehead. It had a heartbeat, and each passing second made it feel even worse. She clutched at the floor and tried to pull herself along, but the door kept on disappearing. It was spinning about her. She reached out and felt something cold, but she didn't know what it was.

Her mind was whispering things. She heard voices. She looked and saw the wallpaper become particularly visible. The room remained spinning, yet the wallpaper seemed to focus itself in her brain. She shook her head. It hurt as she did. Her fingers grew tingly. The wallpaper laughed at her as a jester would. She screamed again and tried to crawl, but her body wouldn't allow it.

She turned quickly from the wallpaper. It appeared everywhere. She closed her eyes. In the blackness the wallpaper still persisted. It was saying something, but she couldn't make out the words. Strangled inside the curly stems of the red flowers were people. She saw them dying and she saw them screaming. Their faces turned white. They reached out for anything, but the thorny stems kept strangling them. She screamed.

They were her family. They were dying in front of her eyes. One of them was her sister. She wasn't being strangled, but was yelling at Fox. "It's your fault!"

"No!" Fox screamed back. She felt tears rushing down her face. But when she looked at the tears on her hands, it looked like blood. The blood spread from a few drops to her entire palm. She screamed and tried to rub it off, but as she did the blood spread only more. It spread up her arms and across her stomach. She lurched away and tried to get it off, screaming and flailing all the while. Then blood was rising above her, as though she were in a lake. It filled up the room until only her head was able to see out of it. The blood kept rising, and finally she was submerged. There were green lights flashing underneath the ocean of blood and things floating around inside. She could somehow see through the ocean, and finally something strange came floating up to her.

"Hello, sister," a skeletal corpse said. The corpse had its head on backward and its bones crushed and diced and pieced back onto the body. Fox felt more tears rushing down her face and get lost inside the blood. She couldn't scream. The skeleton disintegrated into black water that began its way toward Fox. The girl moved from it, her body moving slowly and painfully. The world kept spinning and the wallpaper kept laughing. She reached in front of her. She pulled herself out. And then…

_Bam!_

Fox was outside and in the hall. She had opened the door and dumped herself onto the floorboards. She was breathing heavily and trying to crawl forward. She felt the effects of the Fear Vapor begin to wear off, yet sometimes she still thought she saw blood on the walls.

**Rave Klipper (District 9 Male)**

Rave led Watch outside. The two were on a hunt for water. They scanned the area. It was so dark, they realized. They steered clear of the pond, as they both remembered their earlier encounter with the acid and how it burned away their quiver. That was a rather unfortunate moment.

Rave held his spear close to him and Watch walked laughably with his bow and arrow he had picked up long ago. "This way," Watch said, leading them around to the garden.

"We searched there already."

"Yes, but do you really want to go into the forest at night? Who knows what the Capitol has waiting inside?" Watch remembered all of the poisonous insects and man-eating animals that the Capitol loved to put into their arenas. They couldn't possibly risk searching through what Watch considered a "haunted" forest at night.

"Fine. Then where exactly in the garden should we look?" Rave asked. The two made their way to the west side of the house. They knew that far behind the mansion, next to the forest, was a large, open field that spanned nearly a mile. Would they find water there? Probably not, Watch said.

"Hey," Watch said as they began picking their way through the hedges and flowers. "What's that noise?" There was a flapping noise, like something was hitting something else. They looked around themselves, and then Rave pointed high above them. They saw something that Watch considered very valuable.

"It's an open window."

Watch looked up at the window. It was catching in the wind and hitting against the wall of the mansion. What he found so mysterious was that there was an open window at all. "Why…is that open?"

"Someone opened it?"

Watch looked at Rave and nodded. Then he smiled. "Someone…must be using that room. They might be in there right now. You know…maybe we could surprise them? I mean, we know that someone is or at least had been in that room. What if we…go explore it?"

Rave looked cautious. "But…that's probably a bedroom. We know better than to go into the bedrooms at night."

"That's true, but we could at least look from the hallway. Maybe a career is in there. That might be their base. If we can target their base, then in the morning we can strike them. Or, better yet, take whatever bags they managed to retrieve from the cornucopia. Rave, we know where someone is."

"You're right. I mean, the window couldn't have opened by itself…"

"Exactly. So we can go surprise someone. If they're not in there, then so be it. Again, they might not be in there, but they probably left their water and food and supplies in there."

"I understand," Rave commented. He looked up. Perhaps someone was in there, and perhaps someone wasn't. They weren't going to be sure until they checked, and after a few minutes of pondering what Watch was saying, Rave realized that this was probably a good idea. "Let's sneak up. Maybe we can see who's in there."

Watch nodded. "For once, I feel like we have the upper hand."

**Torque Detrix (District 10 Male)**

Torque was being hunted. There was a man. He was throwing knives from behind Torque at him. Torque narrowly missed the knives, but he felt his dexterity was waning. Slowly, he felt as though he were not moving at all. He tried to run, but he couldn't. He fell to his knees and looked around him. The man stabbed him again and again in the heart. Torque's heart burst from his chest and began to flop about on the floorboards like a fish. He gasped, but somehow he was still alive.

He clawed at the ground, screaming. There was so much pain. He hit his head off of a chair and screamed again. The pain felt unordinary. Another man came from behind him and bound him with chains. Torque tried escaping from the man's grasp, but his body's strength was leaving him. Finally, he was bound and then beaten to a pulp by a mace. He saw chunks of his flesh flying everywhere, and finally he looked down and saw the gaping hole left in his stomach. As blood poured out, he screamed and screamed and screamed, but he was still alive.

By a man with a bow and arrow, he was pulled up to his feet. He staggered and fell over, and then felt the force of an arrow drive directly into his back. He screeched, and then another arrow came shooting from the new man. Again and again did he suffer from this shower of arrows, and by the time the man had stopped, Torque could feel nearly one hundred pieces of wood sticking from his back. He hunched over and fell to the ground once more.

A fourth man came. He rode a chariot led by four wolves. The wolves moved so slowly toward him, and as they moved closer he tried his hardest to get away. But one of the arrows pinned him through his back into the floorboards. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. He struggled and struggled and screamed and screamed. The wolves came closer. He tried to kick and push himself back up, but he lost all of his strength. Then the wolves were on him, feeding off his flesh as though he were a bedtime snack. He tried to keep the wolves off him, but their numbers were great, and soon he felt paws and razor-sharp teeth ripping apart his entire body. The man on the chariot laughed and cackled. Torque grew faint and couldn't withstand the wolves. He let himself die.

But then everything was gone. There were no more wolves and no more chariots. He tried to stand up, and could. He walked to a mirror and looked at it. His body was torn apart and hanging together by small shreds of bone. He screamed and passed out, his head hitting the floorboards hard. He awake soon after, gasping for breath. He kicked at the ground and inched himself across the floor. Finally, he could breath.

He was in the hall. The fumes from inside his room were slowly disappearing. The man stood up, staggering about like a drunken man. He couldn't focus on anything on particular, but he knew he was no longer under the effects of the Fear Vapors. At least, not as badly as he was before.

But still, something was nearby. He could hear breathing. He could see shadows. Could he? Were they in his mind? He reached for the walls and tried to balance himself. As he did, he walked slowly down the corridor and tried to be as quiet as possible. A white chariot came riding up past him and went through him. The apparition disappeared and Torque choked on his breath. He was sweating. Something was around him. He could feel it. Something wasn't right.

Around the corridor was a man. But no, that was a vision. The man disappeared. What? Was that a wolf? No. Torque shook his head. He made a few grunts and tried to recollect his thoughts.

"What…" he asked himself. He struggled to walk. Then he heard another noise. Something was coming. He could hear footsteps. And he heard some other, loud, bad-sounding noise. What was that? He couldn't tell. He walked faster and faster and when he thought he escaped the noise he came face to face with Sapphire and September.

Sapphire was defenseless. She spoke to him, but he couldn't understand her words. She sounded muffled and distant. "What?" She sounded like a ghost.

Again, she tried to speak.

"What?"

"Torque, please join our alliance!"

He couldn't tell what she was saying. September moved toward Sapphire, he saw, and yelled something at her. He grabbed his ears and screamed at the pain. What was going on? Were they real? He turned and saw September holding up her ball-and-chain. She swung it at the ground, and Torque backed away. Then, the girl swung it again. He heard a scream. Sapphire was bleeding out. He turned on his heels and backed away. But he had to look. Sapphire was gushing blood. He heard her crying. He tried to listen, but she sounded like muffled static. There was screaming. He couldn't focus on any one thing. September sounded vicious. He could hear her screaming, and he could hear Sapphire weeping out.

Then she hit her again. And then again. And before Torque knew it, Sapphire lay motionless on the ground. She looked like a bloody pulp, and he could hardly recognize her. He cried out. He staggered backward and saw September advancing on him. He backed away and ran. He couldn't tell what was happening. The world was rushing around him. He struggled to keep a good pace, and every once in awhile he turned around to make sure September was losing distance. Finally, he stopped. There was nothing. There was silence. He tried to listen for September, but he couldn't hear her. He only heard a light buzzing noise in the back of his head. But then his hearing was restored. He heard something.

_Boom!_

**Jape Phisher (District 12 Male)**

He had made up his mind. He couldn't stay with Thea and Hope. He was appreciative of everything they had done, but he knew he couldn't stay with them. He couldn't let them die for him. He would feel even worse than he already did if he knew that two lovely ladies sacrificed themselves to save him. So, he couldn't stay. He wanted to, but he couldn't. This he had decided.

But what would he do? He had no weapons. He couldn't just go out and pick a fight with anyone. He'd need to play this game with a sense of understanding. He couldn't be ambitious. He needed to think. He was on the third floor of the mansion, a few rooms away from Hope and Thea, and pondered what exactly he could do. From the room he was in, an entertainment room, he could see out a large window and into the front lawn below. It was so dark that he could barely make out even a tree or two. Near the doors to the mansion was a light that illuminated the staircase leading up to the entrance porch, but that was all.

He saw Atlas and Moon heaving two large bags across the lawn, and then he saw them enter the house. So, those two were still alive. Those bags, however, looked valuable. Perhaps, if he was quick enough, he'd be able to steal them without their seeing? No. That was absurd, he thought. He couldn't go stealing careers' weapons. He'd need a different approach.

The first thing he did was start moving. He had told Thea and Hope that he was going to look for water, but that was merely an excuse. He needed to go. He needed to leave while he had the chance. He didn't want to, but he knew he'd get them killed if he stayed by their sides. So, he slipped out of the entertainment room and walked anxiously down the hall. He walked with his head always turned sideways and his fists up in case someone would come screaming down the hall at him.

The walls were so dark it was like they weren't even there at all. It was like they led to big, black holes. And one misstep would send him careening down into the depths of the beyond. The floorboards creaked loudly and spiderwebs clung to the walls.

He breath was shaky. His legs turned to jello every time he turned down a hall. He could hardly see. Someone could've been behind him. They could be on top of him in five seconds, driving a dagger through his heart. He was shaking; never had he been this close to death before.

He knew he needed to go outside. He had seen a forest near the mansion, and that was where he knew he needed to go. The forest would conceal him. The mansion was likely full of hidden tricks and traps, anyway. He needed to head for the trees, and he needed to do so quickly.

Outside was dark. The moon was bright, yet its light didn't seem to be able to shine much onto the earth below. This was good, though. He could creep along the side of the pond and go where he needed to go. He was wary, though; that pond was dangerous. Getting too close at night would surely be like gambling with your life.

He moved swiftly. The dark forest greeted him with limbs and branches and weeds and bushes. He stumbled into the forest loudly and fell to his knees. He landed in a tangle of mud and grasses, but he kept quiet. Someone could have heard his fall.

He lay on the ground soundlessly. He looked about the forest. It seemed so clogged with trees that he wondered whether people even took the time to venture so far deep. He picked himself up, almost slipping, and continued forward. The ground, being littered with twigs, made for a rather unpleasant walk as Jape had to take severe caution with each step.

As the leaves crunched once more, Jape thought he heard a familiar sound. It sounded like something…flying through the trees. And in only a moment, an arrow lay sticking out of the tree next to the male from district twelve. Jape gaped at the arrow and took off back where he came. He could hear footsteps following him, and heard the sound of arrow after arrow whiz past his head. The attack seemed to be coming from the left, so Jape swerved to the right and continued running.

The exit of the forest was approaching. He couldn't leave the trees: he would become too easy a target. With arrows whipping by his left side, he bolted quickly to the right. He hopped over tree branches and bushes and pushed past everything and anything in his way. He mind was moving faster than his legs as thoughts of what would become of him raced through his mind. He was breathing so heavily, he thought his heart was going to explode. But he couldn't stop. He couldn't let himself get hit. He didn't want to die.

The trees were beginning to become more sparse. He didn't know where he was, but he knew he was somewhere near the right edge of the forest. If, perhaps, he could loop around in a circle, he'd find somewhere to hide…

Another arrow. He turned to see it strike the ground. He gasped, but then felt something in front of him. He tripped and landed on the ground with a thud. A sharp pain went through his hands and arms and legs, and he felt blood trickling down his body. From the ground he saw he had run directly into a bramble patch. He cried out in pain as the thorns dug into his skin, but before he knew it he was up and running again. He went forward, through the bramble. He had to go that way. That was the only way he could possibly lose his attacker.

But he could hardly advance. The thorns cut him and sliced him and soon he was in such a tangle he could hardly move.

And then, his attacker was there. The male smiled at Jape. "Jape. Enjoying the bramble?"

Jape gasped and coughed. His hands were wet with blood from the holes the bramble had put into his hands. "No. No, Fetch."

**Spade Bex (District 3 Female)**

Spade clutched her wooden bat. She was frozen in time and space, and couldn't move. She looked on at the door. Someone was inside that room, but she just couldn't find the courage to go inside. But she knew someone was in there…they were screaming. They were screaming their heads off, and Spade heard them. Who was it? Were they dying? Was there a fight going on in that room? There couldn't have been. There was only one voice. It was a person screaming, and they were screaming for their life.

The screams sounded ruthless and terrible. Spade almost wanted to cry. The person on the other side sounded so wounded and horrible that the sound of their desperate screams fended Spade off. She didn't dare move into the room. She couldn't. Something terrible was going on in there, and she didn't want to find out what that was.

Before the girl could think any more, Qax kicked the door open and ran outside, screaming and tearing at the walls and ground like an animal. Spade jumped back in shock and watched him. She held her bat at the ready, yet she didn't find any opportunity the right one to strike. She just watched. Qax was holding his head, yelling something about pain and suffering. He looked terrible, as though he had stayed up for ten days without going to bed. He got up again and looked around himself, scared.

Spade just looked on. Qax shook his head to clear it. He turned to face the girl, and reached out his hand. She looked at him and backed away, crying something out and letting a few tears fall down her cheeks onto the ground below. Qax seemed frightened of her, though. He was mumbling something about whether she actually existed, and grabbed his head.

Then she saw it; she saw the mallet in his hand. That would without a doubt be a stronger and more useful weapon than the baseball bat. For a moment she grew weary, hoping he wasn't going to attack her. But he seemed disoriented. He seemed…frightened of the world around him.

She walked to him and yelled something. He looked at her, a crazed look in his eyes. She backed away again, but he seemed more nervous than angry. He whipped around, asking himself where all those shadows were coming from. Spade inched closer to him, and as she did, she knocked on the wooden walls with her fists. Qax whipped around and spun fully in a circle. He screamed something at the air and tried to defend himself from what he felt was an incoming attack. Sadly, he was too disoriented to realize he had a weapon with him.

And at last, Spade came up from the side and hit him in the arm as hard as she could with her baseball bat. He screamed and swung at the air with his fists, confused and seeing more shadows and lights. She took this opportunity to reach for the mallet at his waist. Despite his thrashing, she grabbed it and ran.

As she did, she looked back at him. Should she have killed him then and there? No…she…she couldn't. She couldn't kill an innocent person with a mallet. Mallets were so…brutal. And besides, Qax wasn't a threat to her then. She couldn't kill someone who seemed so disoriented. She couldn't…

But as she ran, she just wasn't sure…

Perhaps he would regain his sense of thinking soon? Perhaps he would be ruthless? Would he treat her as kindly as she did him? She hoped he wouldn't remember her hitting him and stealing the only weapon he had.

The more she thought about, the more and more unsure she got…

* * *

"_I have no wounds…"_

"_That is because you are no longer wounded."_

"_But…why?"_

"_Because you have moved on. You are alive and you are well…in another place."_

"_Another place?"_

"_Indeed. Tell me, now. What did you think of the games? Were you satisfied?"_

"_I feel…betrayed."_

"_And you were betrayed. But you shouldn't feel bad, nor should you hate."_

"_Why shouldn't I feel bad?"_

"_You learned what was right. At first, you were merciless. But you would have done anything for your district partner. You would have died for him."_

"_I know I would have. And I did die."_

"_Do you feel well?"_

"_I…I do, actually. I feel…safe. I don't feel like I need to train for anything. I don't feel like I need to fight for anything."_

"_You have learned well, then."_

" '_Learned?' "_

"_Yes. Your life must be a success if you have learned."_

"_But in life…I was terrible. I wanted to kill. I wanted—"_

"_I understand. But it is better that you learn from these mishaps than defend them. You have admitted your guilt. You should be proud of yourself. Your family is."_

"_My…family?"_

"_Of course. Your father and your mother and your brother and your sister."_

"_My parents? But…my parents are—"_

"_Dead?"_

"_Y-yes…"_

"_Even in death a person is very alive. You have much more to learn, but I know you are ready."_

"_You said…my brother? My brother hates me. He called me a curse the day he moved from home."_

"_He did. _You_ thought that only murdering people would bring you happiness. Were you mistaken?"_

"_I…yes, I was, but…"_

"_Then maybe your brother was, too. He, too, has much to learn. But he will learn. And you will see that both of you were wrong."_

"_I…think I understand."_

"_Good! Then shall we go?"_

"_Go? I…yes. I am very ready, actually."_

"_Then, let us depart."_

"_Wait! I mean…I just have one question for you."_

"_I see. And what is that?"_

"_Who…are you?"_

"_I am a teacher. I am _your _teacher. In life you do many things. Sometimes, it takes death to learn from these things."_

"_Oh. I…I see."_

"_I am glad."_

"_I suppose I am ready, now."_

"_Then we shall depart. Sapphire, you will always be remembered for your change of heart. When it mattered, you learned to master your fears and realize what was truly important. You have learned a lot from life…"_

* * *

**Xion Macabre (District 2 Male)**

"Where are these people hiding?!" Xion yelled angrily, overturning a chair in the kitchen. "These people are cowards! Everyone's hiding in this big house and no one will _fight_! We need a sacrifice, Lilac!"

Lilac seemed like she already knew that. She sighed and put her hand on his. She clutched it and said, "And we'll find one. Trust me." She looked into his eyes. He seemed so unhappy and disturbed that she wanted to keep on telling him everything was going to be okay. "I'm here for you."

Xion swallowed hard. He didn't respond to what she said, but instead looked around the room. He held a triumphant sword in his hand and only got to use it once. This made him angry. Once on Cloud did he get to release his wrath. And then, they were so close…only to get beaten by Ricco with a wooden board.

This reminded him of his pain. He looked at Lilac's cheek; it was swollen and bleeding out a little bit. The tip of his sword had struck her skin, and he felt guilty at the thought. But it wasn't his fault. It was Ricco's. He grunted. "How's your face?"

"Okay," Lilac said, wincing. She was in pain, she knew. "Your head?"

"He hardly even touched me." Xion ran his hand up and down the blade of his sword. He looked at it and saw himself through the reflective blade. He looked so miserable. He had a lust. He lusted for blood. Lilac, with her bruised and bleeding face, just gave him an even bigger lust.

As he examined himself in the blade, something caught his eye. A person…yes, someone was outside the room. He saw someone slink past the door…

"Lilac," he whispered. He put both hands around the sword's hilt and made a gesture that someone was outside. She stood up, serious, and reached for her sickle. She cradled it in her hands for a second and then got into a battle position. The person on the other side of the door must've been behind the kitchen's wall…

Xion gestured again. They creeped through the kitchen to the doorway and waited for a second. Their breath was visible in the unnaturally cold room. Lilac and Xion stood ready. Someone was going to move…they had to…

And then, someone bolted from behind the kitchen wall down the hall. Xion reeled back and charged with Lilac right behind him. It was a female he was chasing. He sprinted down the hall with his sword ready and sprinted after her. He nearly caught her, but she fended his sword off with a pipe she was carrying. In the midst of his almost-catch, he identified the woman to be Cilla.

Lilac and Xion ran shoulder-to-shoulder. Cilla took striding steps in front of them, panting and heaving, but never letting go of her will to stay alive. She would've liked to have killed to two of them right then and there, but the situation was not advantageous. So, she ran.

Xion slashed at the air, missing Cilla's hair by a few inches. He lunged forward, but the girl was still too fast him. She swung her pipe down while running side-ways and deflected Xion's attack. Lilac took the lead and tried to get as close as she could with her sickle.

For a second Lilac thought she had her. But then Cilla rounded a corner and Lilac lost a lot of ground. But the chase was still hot. Cilla reached the front door soon after and ran out, followed by Lilac, who was followed by Xion. Cilla charged for the forest, the obvious place of escape. She reached the trees with Lilac on her heels, but hit the district two girl in the stomach with her pipe. It wasn't a very strong hit, but it wounded the other enough to make her stop and gasp for breath.

"I got her," Xion said reassuringly. He took the lead and charged after Cilla, but soon found himself on the ground as he tripped over a large log that he didn't see.

"Go…" Lilac said, still gasping. She lay on the ground and remained quiet. Xion took the mission on alone and left his partner nearby. She had a sickle, he knew. She wouldn't get killed so easily. She'd put up a fight. He took off toward the direction Cilla ran and tried to see through the darkness. But he couldn't. He yelled something to himself and stabbed a plant with his sword.

But wait…he heard…a crunching noise. There was someone—or perhaps more than one—coming his way. He quieted down and looked. He heard faint voices. He crept along to a tree and waited. It sounded…like a man and a woman. He waited for them to approach, holding to breath to keep himself from giving himself up. He could only hope Lilac wouldn't make any kind of noise as he waited. They approached quietly, and the male began climbing a tree. The female waited at the ground for him to get up before she followed.

Xion jumped up. He ran for the female with his sword in hand and pulled her down from half-way up the tree. She shrieked and yelled something at him, kicking and flailing all the while. She was defenseless, he saw; it was Terra. He picked her up, but before he knew it, someone was on his back, pulling him to the ground and hitting him with a staff. He grunted and dropped Terra, who scurried to her feet.

"I'll get my sword!" Terra yelled, beginning to climb the tree. Feyot couldn't last long, she knew. She looked down from partway up the tree to see how he was faring.

Feyot twirled his staff quickly and smashed Xion in the face. The career staggered back fell to the ground. Feyot was on him, striking him masterfully and skillfully. Xion couldn't bring his sword up, for Feyot was successfully striking his arm down and running circles around the fallen career.

Terra was shocked. Feyot had never expressed even a shred of fighting skills. And now…he could do this? She forgot for a second that she was even supposed to get the sword. It seemed like Feyot had everything under control.

And he did. He twirled his staff around and hit Xion again in the chest. The career rolled over, but Feyot was on him. He was fast and he was smart. Xion had no time to react before he was struck again with the staff. Terra watched from the tree in disbelief.

But then things turned bad. Lilac approached seemingly out of nowhere and took Feyot down. Xion was up and back to full capacity, grabbing Feyot by the arms and snatching his staff. He broke the weapon in half and threw it on the ground, punching Feyot a few times to set him straight.

Terra scurried up the tree. She had left her sword up there…

She looked down. Feyot was getting dragged. He couldn't put up a fight. Lilac and Xion had him. Terra looked desperately in the pile of leaves she had hidden her sword in. But…it wasn't there. She gaped. There was nothing there…

She thought it could have fallen. If she could begin her way down the tree…

Terra was running out of time, and she knew it. Her sword had to be somewhere. If it wasn't in the tree, then surely it would be somewhere on the ground, she realized. But where? She began her descent, quickly swinging from branch to branch in order to get down as fast as possible.

But then she slipped. She remembered reaching out for anything, but she felt nothing. She was falling, and then…

_Bam! _That was the last thing she remembered before slipping into unconsciousness.

And by then, Feyot had been dragged out of the forest and toward the front door. Xion was doing a good job containing their sacrifice, and Lilac held her sickle close to Feyot's chest in case he tried to escape. He squirmed and struggled, but Xion's powerful grip held him tightly in his arms.

"This way," Xion said, heaving the man to the right. This continued until they had finally reached the fourth floor of the mansion. Xion pressed the elevator button. Feyot stood with beads of sweat running down his cheeks; he was nervous, but curious. Why hadn't they killed him? What did they plan to do to him? And what was at the bottom of this elevator they seemed so desperate to enter?

The ding of the elevator roused Feyot from his trance. His heart began to pound again and he began to kick and scream for anyone's help. He cried out, "Terra! Terra!" but Terra never came. As the elevator doors shut, Feyot began recollecting how he spent the last few minutes of his life.

The three reached the bottom. Xion pushed Feyot out first, letting go of his grasp. He turned the man around and pushed him farther into the room. The bump on Xion's head showed, and Feyot could only wonder how he could've gotten a wound like that. From his staff, maybe?

Xion pushed him deeper into the room until Feyot smacked into the wall. "Go." Xion said, pointing to the hole in the wall large enough to fit only an adult human being. Xion had a crazed look in his eye that spoke of murder, but Feyot would have none of it. He didn't want to die today.

"N-no…" Feyot said timidly. He shook his head. "I don't know what this is all about, but…"

Xion yelled something at him. He punched him hard in the side of the head and demanded that Feyot reject him again.

"I'm not going in."

"Your life will end sooner if you do," Xion said. "Or else…" He looked to Lilac, who looked back at him knowingly. She picked up her sickle and began to tease him with it. She demonstrated the curved blade of the weapon and walked up to him.

"Do you want to play?" Lilac asked. She held the sickle by his face. "It's a shame your girlfriend couldn't be here to watch, but…"

"Don't talk about Terra," Feyot said. Lilac poked the edge of the sickle into the area where his heart would be. He bled out a little bit. He shifted uncomfortably, but held his position. Xion shoved him into the wall, and the man winced noticeably.

"Go," Xion repeated. Now, he tackled Feyot to the floor. The career was barely matched, so he put Feyot's arms behind his back and began to push him toward the sacrificial chamber. Feyot tried kicking back, but Xion was too powerful.

And into the dark hole Feyot went. He felt himself surrounded by the damp walls of the cramped space, but nothing was happening. He waited, and so did Xion and Lilac. But still, nothing happened. Feyot did not die, nor did the wall crumble like a stack of blocks. "What's this?!" Lilac yelled. She grew frustrated. She tried kicking Feyot deeper into the sacrificial cut-out, but Feyot had the optimum vantage point. The hole was small, so it was easy to defend someone's strength at the angle at which they would be attacking.

"Wait a second…" Xion said. He grabbed Feyot by the throat and pulled him out of the slot, throwing him aside easily. He peered into the hole, himself, and looked into it. It went far, he noticed. Perhaps the sacrifice needed to be located at the back end of the space.

Then it hit him. "Wait," Xion said. "He's a sacrifice. We can't get him back there ourselves because there's no room…" He looked at Feyot, who looked bruised and beaten and bloody. "He…needs to crawl back there himself."

"A sacrifice…" Lilac said. "A true sacrifice."

The two looked at Feyot and waited. He just looked back, curious as to why they thought he would so readily sacrifice himself. "I'm not moving," he said.

Lilac laughed. "We'll make you," she said.

"So that you _want _to sacrifice yourself…"

Xion grabbed Feyot unexpectedly and jabbed him lightly in the stomach with his sword. Feyot screamed and gasped. He spit up a little bit and clutched the area where Xion had stabbed him. Lilac took him next. She turned him around and picked her sickle up, hacking at him several times in the back.

Unable to withstand the pain, Feyot dropped to his knees. He didn't move, though. Xion was on him again. He jabbed him again in the stomach, and again blood fell from Feyot's body. Lilac was on him and began beating him with the hilt of her sickle. Feyot coughed up more dark red blood, but didn't move. He wondered if he even had the strength.

For minutes this continued. Slowly and painfully Xion and Lilac tore apart Feyot, until he became a mess of blood and tears. He could breath barely, but they were sure to keep him alive. Feyot was shaking and his knees gave out any time he tried to stand up. "If you never move," Xion said, "we'll leave you. We'll destroy that elevator when we take it up and we'll leave you. We'll leave you down here to rot and to die slowly. And if you're still alive when Lilac and I are the final two, we'll watch you die and mock you. And maybe we'll help you along to your death, but we'll be gentle. I promise, we won't hurt you too much. Just enough to make you feel a little worse than you already do."

Feyot was weeping out. Lilac didn't know if it was from the pain or from his imminent death, but she didn't care. Xion's words hung in everyone's ears, so she was ready to hear what Feyot had to say to his "generous" offer. She looked at the bloody pulp on the floor and laughed.

"Stop…" Feyot gasped. "Just…tell me…some…thing."

"What?" Xion asked, annoyed.

"Why…must I…sacrifice…my…myself?"

"Because," Xion said, "on the other side of this wall is water. Fresh water."

"There…is…water…outside."

Xion admitted he hadn't been outside often. He didn't know of the pond until he had chased Cilla outside. But still, that didn't matter. This water looked fresh. That pond looked murky. And besides, he knew he wouldn't spare Feyot, anyway. "I don't care. Get in that hole. You'll be helping us and you'll be helping anyone else who's dying of thirst."

Feyot didn't care about that. He crawled toward the sacrificial spot in the wall. He looked at Xion and Lilac, blood running down his face and hands twitching. "You…can't win," he said. "Not really. And…if you do…" He looked at Xion specifically. "You'll…never forgive…yourself. And…you'll never…be able to…look at water again…without…remembering…this face." He pointed to the destroyed and bloody clutter that was his face.

And then he crawled in.

Xion and Lilac just stood there. There was screaming — a lot of it — for a second. And then everything died down. There was no more noise. Feyot was no longer weeping. There was only silence. It was a beautiful silence.

And then, the wall came tumbling down. The spring of life was revealed.

_Boom!_

* * *

"_I…am not bleeding anymore. I…I was in so much pain. But…I feel like I have been rejuvenated."_

"_And you have. You are alive, in a way."_

"_Is this a dream?"_

"_A dream? Oh, no! This is much better than a dream. Dreams only provide temporary release from life; in the end, life is always there. And sometimes, life can be difficult. But now…you are free."_

"_So, I am…dead?"_

"_You are not alive, I can assure you. But your death did not come without victory. You have done something truly great that may change the course of these games."_

"_You mean…I granted fresh water to everyone?"_

"_You did. Perhaps this may help someone. You have helped people."_

"_Thanks…"_

"_You seem…unhappy."_

"_I just…I didn't want to die yet. I…wanted to show off my fighting skills."_

"_And you did. Your alliance partner was shocked. You have hidden your skills well. You have hidden them better than anyone else. You tricked everyone."_

"_I just feel like…I could've won the game. But, I was outnumbered."_

"_That is okay. Think: what did you say to your killer before you died?"_

"_I…said that one can truly never win the game."_

"_Indeed you did. And so, you did not need to win the game to prove yourself."_

"_I suppose you might be right with that…"_

"_I am. You can trust me. You are a fighter, and your killers saw that. They fear you. And your family is proud."_

"_They are? I…I hope they are."_

"_They are."_

"_I…am grateful for you telling me that."_

"_And…I know you did not want to have kids for the very reason you are speaking to me now."_

"_Because I have been killed in the Hunger Games? Because my government has sacrificed me to the games, and I have sacrificed myself _in _the games?"_

"_It is because of your love. You could not watch a child die, let alone your own. You protected them; even though they don't exist, you protected them."_

"_I guess I did."_

"_And now, it is time for you to depart."_

"_With you? Will I go with you? Are you…my conscious? Are you…"_

"_I am a helper and an aider. I want people to get what they deserve…"_

"_I…see."_

"_And so, Feyot, you, too, will always be remembered for how you helped and aided those in need. In your life and in your death, everything you did in the Hunger Games was for a friend."_

* * *

The wind whipped that night. It blew the trees faster and faster. The air cooled down, much to the tributes' happiness, and a dark blanket of shade covered the ground and the house. Tributes had spread themselves near and far, and some had formed alliances while others remained alone.

But in the end, they all shared one thing in common: they were the Capitol's people. And the Capitol wouldn't let them forget that. So at the stroke of midnight, a ghastly rendition of Panem's national anthem began to play. The recording had been purposefully distorted and spliced here and there to reflect the insanity and darkness of this year.

In the sky at night, and on the ceiling of every single room in the mansion, there was the Capitol's seal. At first it waited, only a projection. But then, the seal faded into the blackness, and every tribute alive in the Hunger Games watched as the revelation of which tributes were no longer with them took place in the sky.

_Cloud McKnight_

His picture made him look so determined. He looked like a fighter, but he didn't look merciless. He looked like a true hero. That night, from amongst the branches and leaves of a large tree, Terra watched. Tears flooded her face as Cloud's picture appeared onscreen. She covered her head with her hands. They were her only protection from her consciousness.

_You could've been there. You could've saved him. Why?! Why must I have been so stupid?! _

The first night had proved a difficult one for Terra. She had lost Cloud to Xion in an instant. What would the games have been like had he been alive? Could he have…saved Feyot from getting whisked into the house by Xion and Lilac? But…was Feyot dead? Of course he was, she told herself. Of course he was…

_Katz Wisp_

In her picture, Katz was smirking. It was her stereotypical smirk. No one could forget it, and looking at it again then, the tributes all recollected the moments when she was still alive. No one had befriended her, but she liked it that way. She didn't need a friend. She just needed a weapon.

_I killed her_, Moon thought. _But I don't care. She would've done the same to me_.

Moon replayed in her memory Katz's death. She felt her head that night. Katz had delivered a powerful blow with a vase, she remembered. The girl was strong, Moon knew. The girl was strong…

_Raz Golding_

In his picture, Raz looked happy. He didn't look scared or frightened as he normally did. He looked like he was at peace. Many people thought of him that night, and wondered what kinds of things ran through the man's head. Peace and happiness, many tributes determined. He just wanted peace and happiness.

_I am sorry, Raz. _Spade shed a tear that night. _District three…will always remember you._

She never got to know him, but that picture said it all. He was different. He wasn't like Xion or Atlas or September. Raz was a good-natured and kind-hearted person. Spade wished she had understood him better. But…it was much, much too late.

_Axem Jades_

Axem sat smiling faintly in his picture. He was the only tribute who was sitting for their picture. His leg, the tributes remembered, always was his problem. The poor man could barely walk. And he had one impressive arm with that bow and arrow, Fetch knew.

_You shouldn't have believed me, _Fetch said to him that night. _You were a fool._

Fetch wasn't tired that night. The thought of how he killed Axem pressed on his mind for hours. Fetch knew that he, himself, was a bad man. But, did he need to stoop so low as betrayal? He sighed. Didn't they all?

_Sapphire Raven_

Sapphire wore mounds of make-up for her picture. Many tributes remembered this characteristic about her and couldn't help but smile or roll their eyes. She had always seemed like a cruel, cruel, girl. But the more they thought about it, the less cruel she truly seemed to be…

_I miss you, _Torque thought. _I was thinking about you right before I found you. Trust me: September will pay._

He tried to hide his emotion that night. He hadn't even been sure if he had dreamt up her death in his mind. The Fear Vapors had entirely demobilized him when he saw September, he knew. He couldn't go around crying his eyes out, though. But she was his friend. She didn't deserve to die. And…he wasn't sure, but it might have been entirely his fault…

_Feyot Jasperite_

Feyot's picture displayed a quiet and timid man. He didn't seem like a fighter, but three people knew the truth. They knew he wasn't a coward. They knew he could fight, and was noble. Feyot had never seemed like a mean person to the others. It was truly a real shame…

_Oh, Feyot. I am so sorry. I…I couldn't even help you. I couldn't even save you. I…this is all my fault._

Terra could no longer forgive herself. She had let another die under her care. She had woken up only minutes before, and soon after found herself staring into the eyes of two of her favorite tributes. How could she live with herself? Feyot…trusted her. And she let him down. It was all because she fell out of a tree. It was all because she knocked herself unconscious. Her head hurt. The fall took a lot out of her. But it wasn't the fall she cared about; it was the pain inside her head.

It was pain of knowing that she could've been there, but wasn't.


	15. Day 2 - Small Hours

**FINALLY the new chapter is here! That was a tough one, because I never really got a long portion of time to just sit down and write. So, it took a little bit of time. Anyway, I'm pleased to say that this is coming along nicely, and that I should be updating rather regularly again. Don't forget, if you haven't voted in the poll in my profile, you still can (and can for probably awhile). **

**ghostleon: Yeah, Terra's life is kind of sucking right now. We'll see if it ever gets better... And yeah, Feyot's death was pretty much a balance between suffering and self-sacrifice. Not a fun decision to make :( Now, let's see what happens next... (thanks for the review!)**

* * *

**Day 2 - Small Hours**

* * *

**Lilac Phios (District 2 Female)**

"Finally…"

"We've got it. We've got water."

"Xion, let's go."

Lilac Phios and her partner, Xion Macabre, stood mere feet away from a sparkling oasis of water. The wall had come crumbling down in front of them, and there was no sign of Feyot. They didn't think about him, though. They made for the water.

Something about its location seemed sort of ironic. The players were in a huge mansion killing each other, and beneath all the chaos lay a hidden spring that looked clearer than any water Xion or Lilac had seen before. "We did it." Lilac looked up at Xion and smiled. She walked first and made way for the spring. Xion followed closely behind, thinking deeply about something. Lilac wanted to ask him what was preying on his mind, but the sight of the delicious water drowned out all memories of Xion's strange behavior.

The two passed over the rubble and looked at their reflections in the water. They were happy with what they saw; they adored themselves. Lilac dipped her hands in first, feeling an ice cold tingle run up her spine. The water was fresh; it was very fresh. She laughed at their success and and began sipping the water. Xion did the same, and soon enough the two had replenished their lack of water.

"I feel so rejuvenated," the female noted. She took one last sip. "So now we have water for the entire game."

"Sweet," Xion said. "Now, if we can find another sacrificial altar that'll lead us to some food…" His stomach growled. Lilac laughed, even though Xion was partly serious. "Anyway, we gotta make sure no one knows about this place. Something as simple as water can change someone's fighting performance."

"Oh, I know that," Lilac said, a shy smile on her face. "You know, I'm happy I met you."

Xion looked slightly taken aback. "Yes, well…" He shifted uncomfortably. "Me too."

Lilac smiled. The bruise on her cheek was turning a dark black and there was a little bit of blood encrusted around the area he had stabbed her — or rather, Ricco had stabbed her. Right then, she didn't look menacing in the least. Typically she portrayed such an angry and power-hungry woman, but at that moment she seemed calm and collected. Xion could really tell she must've been telling the truth. At least, that's what he assumed.

"I'm happy you feel that way," Xion said.

"You know…" Lilac began, "if…if we can make it to the end of this thing…well…" She trailed off. She looked solemnly at the ground. "I…I promise I won't kill you. I mean, I couldn't possibly do that. I'd kill anyone else…except for you."

Xion looked flustered. He wasn't good at communicating from the heart and he was particularly bad at communicating about life and death. The man said, "Maybe…we can both win?"

Lilac looked at him with unease. "Do you think? I mean, has something like that ever happened before?"

"Rarely," Xion answered. "Very rarely."

"But maybe," Lilac said, "if the game-makers see our love, they'll spare the two of us."

Xion's face flushed. Love? He didn't know how to respond. He noticed Lilac had gotten incredibly closer to him since the beginning of their talk, and it seemed to bother him. He sighed heavily and tried to pretend he wasn't sighing about their supposed "love". He wasn't really sure _what _their relationship was. "Lilac…"

"Don't speak," she said quickly. "I…I want to remember this moment forever. Just remember: if we are the two finalists, we must convince the game-makers to let us both live. We'd die for each other, otherwise…"

Xion wasn't sure how to respond again, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he nodded, and then he stood up. He looked around the room in which they were and curiously analyzed his surroundings. Other than the pool of life, it seemed there was nothing else of mention inside the room. The walls were stone and the ground was cold. The entire room seemed like a cave, and a strange light that couldn't be seen was illuminating the entire room.

Something happened that night. Xion wasn't sure what it was. But Lilac knew. She knew she and Xion would make the perfect alliance…

**Atlas Rockwell (District 1 Male)**

Atlas took the front. Moon thought it was a stupid idea, since he didn't even have a weapon, but Atlas demanded that as the two traipse through the mansion, he should lead the way. Moon's hand had been bandaged with a thin strap of one of the backpacks. Her hand still hurt a lot, but at least there was no open wound to get infected. And besides, she didn't like to look at herself when she was imperfect.

Atlas, too, was suffering from injuries. His side kept cramping up since Qax had hit him long ago, and regularly he felt winded. Something serious must have happened when Qax struck him with his mallet. Atlas frowned and winced. The pain wouldn't stop. He kept wishing for a parachute, but found himself wondering how exactly a parachute could possibly appear inside the mansion.

The two were on the ground floor. They had passed through many empty rooms, trying to find a weapon. With Atlas defenseless, their alliance would soon crumble under the weight of a stronger one. Moon urged Atlas that it was a matter of life and death that he find his new weapon.

"Let's check here," Atlas said. The two were in a guard hall. Near the walls stood suits of armor that stared at each other from across the hall. Atlas looked reluctant, but Moon was eager to explore. Something about the room just seemed odd.

"One of these guys has to have a weapon," Moon said. But it appeared none of the statues was holding a weapon. She searched around them, behind them, and underneath them. She moved them left and right and tried to see if somewhere there could possibly a hidden weapon.

"There have to be weapons somewhere. The cornucopia isn't the only place to find one," Atlas acknowledged. He looked down at the ground in dismay.

But then he had an idea. "Moon. Let me see your club for a moment." She handed it to him quickly and went back to searching. Meanwhile, Atlas examined the floor. "Wood," he whispered. He picked up the club and smashed at the floor. Moon turned quickly and urged him to be quiet, but by the time she did Atlas's job was nearly done.

The man picked up the largest of the wooden scraps that had flown off from the floor after his brutal beat down. There was a gaping hole in the floor, but it appeared that there was nothing of interest underneath them. But still, Atlas got his weapon. If he couldn't find a sword or a bow and arrow, he'd at least like something to hit someone with. The piece of wood he picked up would do the trick, he knew.

"Look," Moon said excitedly. She was doing her own thing on the other side of the room. Atlas walked over to her and handed her club back. "I…think I found something."

She was pointing to the wooden wall behind one of the statues. It appeared as though, in the wood, there was carved the outline of a door. Moon shrugged and tried pulling on the mysterious wall, thinking perhaps she could pop it out of its place.

That didn't work, but something did happen. The piece of wood began spinning around slowly. It was a revolving door hidden and cut into the wall. Moon stood shocked. Atlas stood impressed.

"Good work."

Moon thanked him and peeked her head into the compartment she had just found. On the other side was a long and narrow hallway that was illuminated with dull lights. She swallowed hard and took a step inside.

Atlas wanted to insist that he go first, but he shrugged the thought off. Moon seemed capable. Besides, his weapon seemed rather elementary in comparison to hers. He followed with his piece of wood ready to strike. But when they got inside the secret passage, there was obviously no one in sight. "This…looks like it could be very important."

Moon nodded. "Sure." She looked up and down. The floors were concrete and along the ceiling were pipes. She inched through the corridor with Atlas right behind her. "I wonder where this leads."

They continued along the secret passage for about fifty feet until they came to a fork in the road. To the left were stairs that led up. To the right was another long secret passage. They chose to stay on their floor, and so maneuvered to the right.

As they walked, loud, dull noises from the pipes reverberated through the corridors. They thought it impossible that over all the ruckus of the pipes and furnaces someone would be able to hear their talking or their walking. And as they continued farther, it seemed they found out something else: this was a network of paths and secret passages that took them all over the mansion. They didn't take the time to explore all of them, but they tried a few of the exits to see where they took them.

Behind another revolving door was a picture frame. Moon and Atlas emerged out into the library. They went back into the secret passages and tried another exit. It took them to a hidden room behind one of the washrooms. Another exit took them in a ground-floor conservatory whose entrance was hidden behind a poster.

"This could come in handy," Moon said. "I can't believe we found all this."

"It's kinda surprising that there was a big network of paths that linked rooms all along," Atlas commented. Moon didn't answer, but she was thinking the same thing. "If we can figure out where some tributes are hiding…"

"Then we can sneak through the passage." Moon looked confident that their new find would lead them to much success. "There must've been over a dozen passages," Moon acknowledged. "We should become familiar with which path leads where. Then, we'll be able to watch people literally from the inside out."

"How's your hand?" Atlas changed the subject.

Moon looked down. "I almost forgot about it. I think we've finally found our stroke of luck…"

**Thea Maple (District 12 Female)**

Hope was crying endlessly. Since the showing of the dead tributes, she had been absolutely stricken with tears. And on top of that, there was the sound of someone's painful screaming emanating throughout the hallway of the third floor. The tea room in which they were located seemed to be shrinking and shrinking, and the blood-curdling screams coming from across the hall only made Thea fearful and Hope sad.

"Let's leave," Hope said finally. She stood up and began to rush out.

"No!" Thea yelled. "We must stay here! I don't know what's going on out there. Do you really want to give up our position? Someone might be right outside. We can't risk it." She looked nervously around the room. And then she said, "And Jape should be coming back soon."

By now, Hope was hysterical. "Jape has been gone for _hours_! He's gone! He's left us! He doesn't want us anymore!" Hope was yelling, and while she did, Thea was trying to calm her down.

"Please, Hope. You must control yourself."

"Control?! I can't control myself when there are killers running around this mansion! I…I can't do it! I can't play this game anymore! I don't care what happens. I don't want to die, Thea."

"Then why do you insist on risking your life? You can stay here. You can be quiet. We can hide."

"Because the longer I'm alive, the more afraid of death I get! I never used to be afraid of death! I never used to care! But now it is different! I am not ready to die, and the longer I know that I'm going to die, the more crazy I get! I gotta…go somewhere! Somewhere different. I can't stay in this stuffy room all night."

"But you'll die if you go out there!" Thea insisted.

Hope threw her head back and laughed. "My dear, other than that incessant screaming, we haven't heard a single person pass by the door! You must stop worrying! And besides…" She looked down at the ground and said quietly, "I…I will accept my death."

"No! You mustn't think like that!"

"Why?" Hope asked. "I'm going to die, so I might as well make it sooner than later. I am tired, Thea. I don't want to do this anymore. I want out of this game. I want…freedom."

"But…" Thea said, trailing off. "Think of your grandson, Hope! He's sick at home right now! And you're thinking of giving up? You simply can't. He needs you. Do you hear me?! He needs you!"

Hope didn't look too convinced. She didn't really want to listen. She tried to block out the truth by shrugging off Thea's words, but still, the thoughts of her grandson and of her giving up all hope began to tear into her like a rabid animal. Her heart felt pain. She stood by the door and waited in silence.

Thea knew her words had driven some sense into Hope. Besides, Thea also knew that she herself would've done anything to get back home to her family, had she had one. "Jape's not gone," Thea reassured her. She then said, "And I hope your spirit isn't gone, either."

Hope sighed. "It's not. It's just that I…" she trailed off.

Thea nodded and hushed her. "It's okay. I know. I understand. This game'll make you think crazy thoughts. But don't worry; I'm here for you. We gotta stick together. One person can win this game…and if I recall correctly, there are only…twenty-two left. Those odds…are not unbeatable."

Again, Hope remained silent. She was staring at the ground, a look of remorse on her face. Thea didn't bade her respond, but she was curious about her friend's behavior. More screaming could be heard outside. Hope blocked her ears. "Make it stop!"

"I…I can't, Hope…" Thea said.

"Well then let's move! Let's go somewhere else!" Hope demanded. "Please! I can't take it!"

Thea seemed to understand. And she had to admit, the moaning and screams of pain were beginning to haunt her. Who was that screaming? And what was causing them such pain? The more Thea thought about it, the more scared she became. She stood up and nodded. "Alright. We should change location, anyway. It'd be safer that way."

"Good."

"Let's go." Thea walked out behind Hope. The two tip-toed down the hall, careful not to disturb the screaming individual or anyone else who might have been lurking nearby. The halls were so dark. Thea and Hope could barely see. It was…unsettling. Eyes could've been watching them. People could've been plotting their deaths. It was the scariest feeling Hope had ever felt. Death could have been just over their shoulders.

Thea whispered. "I suggest we look for Jape."

"Jape?" Hope whispered back. She was louder than was Thea. "No! Let's find a room to hide in! Jape…isn't coming back."

"He is," Thea said without pause. "Please, let's go search for him."

"Too dangerous," Hope commented. "I'm hiding."

Thea reached an impasse. Hope demanded they go find somewhere to hide, but Thea knew better than to abandon one of the people she vowed to protect. Hope was scared, she knew. But maybe, she thought, Hope could hide while she searched for Jape. Thea was slightly braver, and hopefully this bravery would've been enough to keep her still breathing.

"I'm going to look for him," Thea said.

"Do what you want," Hope said. The two were descending the third-floor stairs. They found themselves looking out into an even darker hallway on the floor below. "I'll be in this room." Hope pointed to a door and entered. Thea looked in and around the room in order to remember which room Hope was going to be hiding in.

"Alright," Thea said solemnly. "I'll be back. Hopefully with Jape."

"Good luck," Hope said, sadness spread across her face. "And thank you, Thea…"

**Ricco Hallow (District 7 Male)**

"We absolutely _have _to start working on survival," Ricco said seriously. "The Quell Drop _must _be in that forest."

His partner, Vyxsin, didn't look so convinced. Her face twisted up as the two peered from a terrace on the right side of the mansion that looked over the sea of blackness one story below. "I agree…but, I'm just so scared."

"I understand," Ricco said, sighing. "But don't let what happened with you and Xion get in your way. He may be out there somewhere, but we shouldn't care. He didn't kill you once and I promise he won't kill you next time, either."

Vyxsin looked only slightly reassured. "And…I'll do the same for you." She looked down. "Even if I must risk everything for it."

Ricco didn't answer right away. He bit his lip and looked at the stone cobbles that made up the terrace on which they were standing. Then he tried to laugh off his haunting thoughts a little bit and smile. "Aw, we'll be okay." He patted Vyxsin on the back reassuringly and moved closer to the edge of the balcony. He looked out at the ground below and back up to the moon in the sky. Surely, it would be morning soon. And then they might be able to start searching for the deadly but cleverly hidden Quell Drop poison. "I say we go to the forest."

"That's…that's crazy. We're safe right now. We're safe right here."

"No," Ricco said, shaking his head. "We won't be safe for long. And besides, I don't care about the careers. I'm willing to risk my life. I've led a good life. I don't really fear death anymore. So, I say we give it a chance and go to the forest. I don't want to die hiding."

Vyxsin's word hung in her throat. She couldn't find the words to say. In one hand, she agreed with him. But in the other, she still had the mental fortitude she needed to fear her death. She was afraid Ricco was losing hope. "But Ricco, we can hide out here. And we can win _together_. The two of us. It'll be historical."

Ricco admitted that it would, but he still saw a flaw in her plan. "But still, we don't even have any weapons. We must be armed and ready for an attack. If Atlas came bounding through the door right now, I'd be up and over this here balcony in all of about one second. After I saved you, of course."

Vyxsin smiled. Ricco always managed to make her smile. "I suppose you're right." She was thinking. "Alright, let's go."

Ricco led them down to the first floor. They were careful not to bump into someone, but it seemed the halls were deserted. There was definitely an eerie air about the mansion that night. Both Vyxsin and Ricco could felt as though someone was watching them at all times. It was…a strange feeling.

The man opened the front doors. It was a wonder no one was in the foyer; it seemed like such a commonplace. Or perhaps it was deserted for that very assumption. "Water," Ricco said, looking out at the grand pond on their left. He had to admit that he was very thirsty, and Vyxsin had to as well.

"Let's get a drink. Fast," Vyxsin urged. She began to pick up the pace. The obvious problem with the pond was that it was very open. Vyxsin had to admit the darkness that shrouded the land was coming very much in handy. And besides, she had always been a fan of nighttime. She felt she always did her best work and drawing when the sun was down.

"Stop!" Ricco whispered loudly. He heard something grinding. It sounded like crystals or stones were grinding against each other. The sound was odd and rather unpleasant, but yet the noise was very intriguing. "What is that?"

Vyxsin just stood, confused. "What?" She looked around in the darkness.

"Look!" The man grabbed Vyxsin by the wrist and pointed at something in front of them. Squinting through the darkness, Vyxsin could see that Ricco was pointing to a bird stalking around the pond. It was quite a big bird (about three feet in height) and walked about with a goofy-looking gait. The bird looked magnificent, though. In the darkness it was nearly invisible, but when the moon caught the bird the right way, the tributes saw glimmers and sparkles. The two weren't familiar with this species of bird, but from what they could see, its feathers were actually a glassy onyx. They wondered if it could even fly with the weight of its stone body, but before they could think about it any longer, the bird hopped toward them.

Ricco stepped back. "Stay away," he said. Vyxsin wasn't really sure if he was talking to her or the bird, but she knew better than to approach it. Ricco motioned for Vyxsin to follow him. They could not trust one of the Capitol's creations.

The bird continued to hop toward them. It was moving fast, and Vyxsin's backward walking wasn't fast enough to get her away in time. The bird snapped at her with its immense and powerful beak. It caught her by the arm, but Ricco kicked it's onyx side before it could do any real damage. The bird shuffled away, leaving the two to watch as it fleeted back to the pond. It didn't appear it could fly, something for which the two tributes were very thankful.

And then all at once, the bird dove into the pond. Steam and unpleasant burning noises erupted from the pond, and as Ricco and Vyxsin went to examine, they saw no trace of the bird. They only remembered hearing those strange sounds as it seemingly melted away into the water.

"Did you hear that?" Ricco asked. "It sounded like…sizzling."

Vyxsin looked into the black water at her feet. "Something about this water, Ricco…isn't right. The bird…it just melted away." She wanted to put her hand in, but she feared the worst. "We are so stupid. Of course there must be something wrong with this water. Why would the Capitol have given us a pond right next to the mansion?"

"A trap."

"A trap, yes."

Ricco knew she was right, and so bade her come along. They couldn't waste anymore time out in the open. With Vyxsin at his side, Ricco made way for the forest. But as he entered, surrounded by darkness, he realized that finding the Quell Drop would be more difficult than first thought.

**Fetch Zimmer (District 14 Male)**

"We gotta go, now!" Fetch demanded. "We can't just hang around all day. That bomb is going to waste just sitting there. Let's move!"

Stark held his head in misery. He and Fetch were talking as Angel was roughly fifty yards away preparing the bomb "Fetch, please stop your ranting. Angel is making final checks to assure everything goes correctly. Need I remind you that it is very important that an explosion accompanies a bomb?"

Fetch's faced turned even stonier than it normally was. "Very funny, career. But no, you don't need to remind me. I just wanted to explain that if we didn't do anything at all, _we will die_!" Fetch threw his arms up into the air and exasperatedly walked away a few paces.

"We're not even sure where we're going to put the bomb yet, so please just calm down," Stark ordered.

"What?" Stark asked. "Where we're going to put the bomb? Somewhere so that the whole house comes down."

"The bomb isn't that big," Stark said, rolling his eyes. "But still—"

"Somewhere where we can damage the structural integrity of the house," Fetch said. "Yes?"

"Yes, but where?" Stark wondered. This bomb would surely spice the game up a little bit, but it was vital that it be placed at a worthwhile location. And so, hopefully someone would get caught in the blast or the aftermath of the blast and get killed.

"I dunno," Fetch said, disgruntled. "By a wall? I don't know."

"In the foyer, I was thinking. That place is commonly used and—I don't know—perhaps we could shake things up a bit." Stark shrugged. "I suggest we take a look around when we actually get inside."

"We should be scoping that place out right now," Fetch demanded. "That way, we can place the bomb and get outta there. I don't wanna wait like ducks while we try to find the right spot to put that thing. Let's go now. Let's go find where we should put it."

Stark said, "I agree. Take your weapons."

But Fetch didn't move. Instead, he commented, "You go alone. I'll wait with Angel. She's gonna need help moving this thing."

Stark stood motionless. He wasn't sure how to answer. "Well…" Being around Fetch alone always scared him. Leaving him alone with Angel scared him even more. It was true that she would probably need his help, and it was also true that he didn't really want to take on a mission with only Fetch by his side, but he still feared for Angel.

"Besides, I don't know where to put that thing. I mean, I don't know stuff about bombs. You'd ask me where you should put it and I'll say, 'anywhere, since I don't really know what I'm doing.' "

Stark sighed. "Alright. I'll go take a look. Stay here. Take care of Angel. Remember, this bomb is important."

"You remember that, too," Fetch said. "Now, look alive. Go find the perfect spot. I believe in you." Stark rolled his eyes again at what seemed like Fetch's mockery. Maybe it was better he was going alone after all. That guy just really got on his nerves…

As Stark left, Fetch moved back to their campsite and found Angel hard at work. She seemed to be just about finished with whatever she was doing. For that, Fetch was grateful. "Hey, Angel," he said casually. "So, how's the ol' bomb going? Stark's going to the mansion because he hates us and wants to be alone, but don't worry: I'm here for you."

"You really are a smooth talker, aren't you?"

Fetch smiled cornily at her.

"Really, though, where did he go? I suppose you didn't kill _him_, too."

Fetch laughed a little bit. "Good one. But no, he gets to live another day. Besides, did you hear a cannon fire?"

"True," Angel admitted. She stood up from her spot. "I think it's done. Would you help me carry it?" She looked up at Fetch.

"In a sec," he answered. "But…I have something to ask you. Something very serious." He approached her. She wasn't afraid. "Stark…well, you may think he's a good ally, but really…like Axem, he's just slowing us down."

"What?" Angel asked. "You want to abandon him?"

"Listen to me. The guy is too…cautious, or something. He's not a career. He won't even fight. We spent two days in training and he didn't even fight a person once. He's strong and looks the look, but he really isn't all that useful underneath."

Angel was smiling at him. "Fetch, what are you doing? You are…strange."

"I'm serious." The look in his eyes seemed to confirm that. "You and I…we can thrive. We can live. But Stark is just the third wheel. And he's not even a useful wheel. He's like the wheel that always gets caught on something, so you have to go back and fix it. I mean…again, think about it. He isn't a fighter."

Angel was trying to not listen. "Fetch, you are suggesting something—"

"We ought to kill him, Angel. If we keep him with us, think about what will happen: we may get into a fight, and he will be useless. We think we have a three man team, but really we only have two fighters and some other guy who just stands there. And besides, we have to kill him eventually. The longer you hold onto him, the harder it'll be to let him go."

Those final words stuck with Angel. She had only met Stark recently, and she had grown rather fond of him. The thought of his death made her feel sick. And the longer they got into the game, the more she knew his death would affect her. But she couldn't just kill him. She couldn't.

But then again, maybe Fetch was right. Maybe he was a coward beneath it all? Maybe he was just using them as a guide to victory? She couldn't be sure. Fetch brought up a reasonable argument.

_Wait…no he didn't! _She thought. His argument was weak and stupid, at best. Her mind was racing. She didn't answer Fetch right away, but when she did, she had changed the subject. "Let's go," she said. "Let's go get our first kill."

Fetch laughed maniacally. "Don't forget about Axem."

Angel gave him a playful look. "That doesn't count. Allies killing allies doesn't amount to anything."

**Apple Lockey (District 6 Female)**

Qax was gone. She didn't know where he could have gone to for so long, but she was beginning to get worried. She tried to remember. She remembered him saying that he was going to look for resources, and then…_bam! _he was gone.

Apple shivered. She was hiding in a stuffy closet next to the cornucopia, but yet she still felt very cold. She didn't like it. She wanted to move. She _needed _to move. But Qax told her to stay where she was, and she wanted to abide by his wishes. Besides, the switchblade she carried would hardly come in handy against a skilled marksman.

But then again, something told her that standing still was not the right option. Hiding wasn't going to get her anywhere. Sooner or later, she'd be found. And besides, didn't Atlas and Moon already know of her hiding spot? If they thought she was dumb enough to go back there, they would have went searching for her again. Apple's mind was racing.

The thought of the careers made her wince. She hated them. They were brutal creatures of the Capitol's creation, even if they were human beings nonetheless. The more she thought about Moon or Lilac or Xion or Stark the more she wanted to leave that closet and take action. A career couldn't win. She wouldn't allow it. She _couldn't _allow it. Not for all the murderous things they've done.

But were all careers bad? Was Xion cold-blooded? Would Moon kill mercilessly and take no pity on a person? She wasn't sure. She only knew of one career she truly hated…and hate was a strong word.

Apple creaked open the closet door about an inch. She thought she heard someone outside, but she couldn't be sure. There was a radiator rumbling next to her that drowned out a lot of the nearby noise. This was both a gift and a curse.

She couldn't wait. She could feel that she needed to move. Apple opened the door quickly and peered outside. Through the glass window down in the foyer she could see shadowy silhouettes running past. She gasped. Their figures looked large and career-like. She swallowed hard.

And took one step forward…

_BOOOOM!_

In a whirlwind of events, Apple found herself reaching out for the doorknob as the ground disappeared beneath her. An explosion of fire and debris littered the area nearby, and for a moment Apple thought the searing flames would surely scorch her. But then she realized she was falling. The fall felt long and especially painful.

It took her a moment to comprehend what had just happened. There was an explosion, she knew. It was an explosion much bigger than one that could have been created using a grenade. Apple couldn't quite tell where she was, so she thought about it. She had been on the second floor indoor balcony looking over the foyer. It would only make sense that she was behind the wall of the foyer and beneath the balcony.

But it was too hard to see. Wood and stones and bricks lay clogging the hole to her escape, and the room in which she found herself lying was plunged in darkness. It took her a few minutes to remove the pieces of debris from on top of her, and when she finally stood up she knew just how badly she had hurt herself from the fall.

She could hardly straighten her back out completely without doubling over onto the ground. Her legs felt withered and tired, and every bone in her body was aching. She was coughing quite a bit (from the musty room or from the painful fall, she wasn't sure) and her breath took in little air. She had had the wind knocked out of her.

But what was worse was that she was trapped. The escape she could've taken above her was completely covered in debris. There was so much she was certain it would take days to clear it out. But what she found odd was that the room she was in was quite spacious. She deciphered that perhaps she was more lucky than first thought; she was in a room, no doubt. It was a room built underneath the balcony and behind the foyer wall for a purpose. There must've been a way out…

_Boom!_

Apple heard another muffled explosion. At first she thought there was another, weaker bomb upstairs. But then she remembered that this was not the first time she had heard that noise. That was no bomb; that was a cannon.

Apple shuddered. Someone was dead. Perhaps they had died from the bomb. She couldn't be sure. For a moment she was thankful her situation was not nearly as grave as it could have been. Someone was dead. At least she had a chance to stay alive. And better yet, she was well-hidden until she found a way out. Perhaps this entrapment was not nearly so bad after all…

But still, she was trapped. And there was no sign of an immediate exit. The room she was in was completely dark, so she didn't know how far it went. And the air felt thin. The more she thought about it, the more hopeless she began to feel. She wasn't lucky. She was the unlucky one. She had to live another day in the Hunger Games…

**Watch Zayonia (District 11 Male)**

"What was _that_?"

"I don't know," Watch answered. "That sounded like…a bomb. Or an explosion."

"A bomb? How could anyone get a bomb?"

"I don't know." Watch looked around the room in confusion. They were in the library, back in their hiding spot. It appeared that no one had been in the room since they left, so they were happy. Sadly, they failed in finding a water source, and decided not to explore the mysterious room with the open window until morning. If that truly was a bedroom, they wouldn't want to go in, for obvious reasons.

"There has to be something else. There has to be something else to do," Rave said, confusing Watch even more. Rave hobbled up from his spot on the ground and looked through the rows upon rows of books that formed the room.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're in a _library_. There _has _to be another clue hidden in here, don't you think?" The books he was examining seemed normal and orthodox. What he wanted to find was a book with perhaps the Capitol's seal, or one with something unusual that would catch his eye. He knew there were clues and survival tips littered around the mansion, so he made it his mission to find another one. "Maybe it'll tell us where water is. I dunno…"

Watch groaned. He _was _thirsty, he realized. But it wasn't the time to worry about himself. He needed to find water for Rave and for the survival of his team, as well. He got up and helped his coalition partner look. "You might be right." But where to look? The room was absolutely festooned with books, so finding the right one would be difficult and time consuming. He began looking, anyway.

Most of the books seemed normal, yet one of them just looked out of place. He approached it and picked it up. It was nothing of interest. He sighed and moved on. Along the back wall he found several memoirs written about past Hunger Games. He skimmed through them and read a few pages, but most of them were simply recollections of the previous Hunger Games, who won the game, what the arena was like, the order in which the tributes died, and so on. And when he checked, there was no sign of a 201st Annual memoir. Again, he moved on. "Find anything?"

Rave grunted. "This library is confusing. Nothing is in order."

On top of that, Watch realized that it was very dark. Only the (nearly nonexistent) light of the moon shown through the mosaic window at the back of the library, and the rows were illuminated with poorly functional candelabra sconces. "It's too dark. I can't see much."

"Grab a candle," Rave suggested. That is what he had done, and so searching for books grew much easier. The wax melted around him and he walked, but the candle was getting the job done. Watch shrugged. There were a few large candles lit and burning near the desk in the middle of the library, so without a second thought, he grabbed one.

_Whooosh!_

Watch jumped in surprise. A bookcase standing against a wall nearby slid open quickly, revealed a dark room behind it. Rave stumbled at the sound the noise and ran over, "What was that?"

"A passage," Watch noted. "Come, let's go down it. I think we're onto something!" He shuffled over to the area where he earlier placed his bow and arrow and picked it up, placing the candle down at the same time.

_Whooosh!_

"The door!" Rave called out. "It closed."

"Odd…" Watch said, staring down at the candle on the ground with an odd look.

Rave said, "The candle. You did something with the candle, didn't you?"

Watch looked confused. "Yes, but I didn't return the candle to its holder. You would think…that the hidden switch would be in the holder. But…" He picked up the candle. The door opened once more. "I suppose I was wrong…"

"So, the switch is inside the candle?"

"It must be," Watch said. "Perhaps…if it is placed against something, the switch will activate…" He looked at the candle in his hands. "The switch must be at the bottom of the candle. It only makes sense." He balanced the candle on the palm of his hand and watched as the door again closed. He nodded, smiling. "Looks like we figured out the little trick." He opened the door again.

Rave said, "Let's go inside. You should put it back in the holder, but upside-down."

"Better yet, I'll take it with us. That way, there's no question of whether the door will close somehow on us." He held the candle close to its top and led the way, his bow and arrow in his other hand. Rave followed with his spear balanced in his right hand and entered the passage nervously.

There were no lights, other than the light of the candle. Along the cold stone walls was moss and spiderwebs. Rave felt with his left hand along the path Watch was illuminating. He could tell they were gradually descending, and after a minute it began apparent that their descent was circular and helical. The slope twisted downward farther and farther until finally the to came face to face with a door. The door was rotted and wooden and looked as though it hadn't been used in years. The realism the game-makers managed to portray in the arena was astounding…

"Let's go…" Rave urged. Something about having his back turned facing the dark chamber that lay behind him made him nervous. "Go in," he said.

Watch twisted the rustle doorknob and the door creaked open. Immediately, the two encountered more darkness. Watch squinted through the blackness in front of him for any sign of a light switch. His candle wasn't doing very much.

"On the walls," Rave said. "Look, there are torches." He was right, and so Watch lit them. The room became only slightly brighter, but it was certainly enough to see what the dark chamber contained. Sprawled out across the room were wooden crates and boxes. Although the boxes looked tattered and worthless, both Watch and Rave knew they were onto something.

"There's something important in here…" Watch began. "This room has to have a purpose…"

**Cilla Omala (District 11 Female)**

"Bear traps?" she whispered. Cilla stood looking inside a treasure chest hidden cleverly within a china cabinet within the long dining room. The china cabinet had housed several different keys, each of which corresponded to different drawers in the cabinet. Finally, after much trial and error, Cilla had successfully found a hidden treasure chest in the top compartment.

To her surprise, though, this treasure chest contained a wide assortment of bear traps. At first she grew excited, but then her heart sank. Bear traps were only useful if a person were dumb enough to step into one. She would've liked to have carried one along with her and use its teeth as a weapon, but she already had both a pipe and a knife.

Still, she picked up the heavy treasure chest and placed it on the dining room table. Where could she install the traps, she wondered. More important, where could she install them so that someone might find themselves accidentally stepping in one? _Somewhere dark._

The dining room was not the place. It had too many sconces on the walls and a large chandelier in the middle of the room. Cilla took her supplies elsewhere and continued looking. The pantry was dark and quiet, but ultimately was tucked away in a corner of the house that no one would probably ever visit.

But there was the kitchen. Its location was central and the room was illuminated with only one light bulb hanging above the sink. There was no switch, so Cilla took care of that. With her knife in hand, the lightbulb came plunging downward and smashed on the ground. The room was now plunged into darkness.

_Shoulda waited…_Cilla muttered something to herself as she tried to feel her way around in the darkness. She knew how to set bear traps, so she got straight to work. She used the light in the dining room to set them up and maneuvered them to the kitchen when she was ready. Once, Cilla almost stepped on one of the bear traps she had set, but she recovered herself quickly before accidentally tripping and falling. Finally, though, the room came together and was transformed into a dark, dangerous minefield. Still, she couldn't help but scold herself for cutting off the light switch so early.

With her job done, Cilla left the room and slunk down the hallway. She didn't want to think, but she was guilty of doing so while alone. She couldn't let her conscious get to her, though. Thankfully, she knew it wouldn't. She was tougher than people made her out to be. She'd do anything to win the games.

Even if she had to kill more people. She didn't care about Raz. She didn't even know him. So why should she feel bad?

She didn't feel bad about anything. What she did was done and what she did was for her own good. She didn't care if people suffered or found themselves facing a dire situation with no help. She didn't care about them…she couldn't.

In a game like that, no one could…

* * *

"_How…did I die?"_

"_Pardon?"_

"_I don't understand…was it a bomb?"_

"_There was an explosion, if you recall correctly."_

"_I do recall. But, oh, that's unfair. I didn't even have a warning."_

"_Sometimes, that is for the best."_

"_But…no, it can't be. Where am I now? Am I dead? Is this…"_

"_You are no longer a part of the Hunger Games. For that you should be thankful. And I think you are, deep down. I know you did not want to partake."_

"_But, death? My, death is so tragic. I…I have a family!"_

"_No…you needn't cry. Please…your family loves you. They know of your death, and they do weep, but their love will never die. Neither should yours."_

"_How can a person live without their family, though? I…I miss them dearly. In the games, I knew a person who hardly even has a family. Dear me, I wish I were them right now! How am I to live?"_

"_It will come quite easily, I promise."_

"_But…my husband. And my sisters. And…my…"_

"_Grandson?"_

"_My grandson…"_

"_You should not worry."_

"_But…he was so sick. And now, I…I'm…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I'm gone. I'm not there for him. I…I feel like I've abandoned him…"_

"_Death is not abandonment. And in the games, you have made him proud. You stood true to your cause. You didn't want to participate, but you didn't give up. You know what you wanted. You wanted…to live."_

"_I…I did."_

"_And even though you failed, you tried."_

"_I did try."_

"_You have persistence, even if you didn't even know it. You knew what you wanted."_

"_To win…"_

"_Indeed. But not for yourself."_

"_For…my family."_

"_For your husband and your sisters and your children and your grandson."_

"_I…I don't you who you are, but thank you."_

"_It is my pleasure…"_

"_But…excuse my curiosity, but who are you? I will say, I don't understand."_

"_I represent family. I represent the love of a family. And I am selflessness, for I will do anything for this family."_

"_Oh…thank you…for telling me."_

"_Of course. And now, are you ready? To leave this place?"_

"_I…am."_

"_Then come. And thank you, Hope. You will always be remembered for fighting for what you want: your family. You are loved by many and you love many. And that is the most important thing…_


	16. Day 2 - Morning

**Hello there, everyone! I am back! Actually, I didn't really go anywhere, so...**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. A few more important things happen here (as in every chapter), so enjoy! And stay tuned for more!**

**ghostleon: I really liked your review, because I like how you mentioned that there's a lot of weird, crazy things going on. The characters are all kinda freaking out, but some of them are holding themselves together better. And yeah, I figured that the bomb had to kill at least ONE person. It just didn't seem right any other way, haha. Thanks for your review!**

* * *

**Day 2 - Morning**

* * *

**Fox Berry (District 5 Female)**

There was only one place for Fox to go. There was only one place she knew she could hide: the forest. The effects of the Fear Vapors had long since passed, but Fox didn't feel safe. She never did. As she rounded the bend toward the room with the cornucopia, Fox gasped.

The foyer and its above balcony had been utterly demolished. The stairs leading up to the second story from the foyer were half-gone and half-deteriorated. They looked like any measurable weight would have been enough to make them collapse. And even worse was the second floor: the cornucopia had sunken into the wooden floor, most of which was gone, splintered, or also sinking into the floor. The area by the staircase looked like a crater with the cornucopia clogging its top. Fox shuddered as she looked on. What could have caused this? Was there an explosion? She didn't remember hearing one, but…

The girl turned on her foot and ran back down the hallway whence she came. She didn't want to risk the dilapidated staircase, and even more she didn't want to risk getting caught looking at the devastation. She had to move, and fast.

As Fox jogged lazily down the hallway, she kept her eye out for any staircases that led to the ground floor. As she passed by windows, she could see that the sun was beginning to come up and shine down into the arena. It was the dawn of a new day…

Fox couldn't believe she had already spent a day in the arena. It felt longer; it felt like years. And the more she thought about, the more teary-eyed she became as she ran through the mansion looking desperately for any exit. Today would be just the same. And then more people would die, and then there would be tomorrow. But tomorrow would be the same, too. And finally, a group of twenty-eight people would manage to dwindle down to a single one. She could hardly comprehend the thought as she ran.

Fox descended the staircase at the back of the mansion and found herself on the first floor. A door led her outside to the back deck, which would have been a rather nice place had a large graveyard not been what it overlooked. She winced and ran down into the grass and dirt and passed the stones without giving them a glance. She didn't have time to let her mind get the better of her.

The forest welcomed her with its skeletal branches. She grew frightened, but knew that the trees could protect her. She could climb a tree, so that's all she needed. But the more she ran, the more she remembered the Fear Vapors and the strange effects it had upon her. And then she remembered her sister, and the way the Fear Vapors had so realistically materialized her in front of the poor tribute. Fox shuddered. "It's your fault," ran through her mind constantly.

The forest was getting thicker with trees. This was good, she thought. At a point so deep into the forest and so near the arena's edge, Fox could hardly continue a jogging pace without having to step her way around the mazes of trees. Ironically, a clearing in the forest appeared every now and then, but Fox ignored them; she didn't want to be seen.

When the girl had finally reached what she deemed a good hiding place, Fox gently grabbed one of the nearby trees by one of its branches and began to climb. At first she was shaky, but she cast her fears aside as she thought about how climbing this tree may very well save her life. She needed to climb high, and she needed to avoid detection. If she managed this, she doubted anyone would ever see her…

**Terra Celeantra (District 8 Female)**

"Once a person can see death, there is nothing that person can fear…"

Terra knelt at the altar in front of her. She knelt watching Cloud's death again. She felt too bad. She couldn't feel better. She only felt worse. She needed to watch him die; she needed to feel his pain. She wept once more as she watched. For her third time, she saw Xion's massive sword cut straight through Cloud's back. Terra winced. Her district eight partner fell to the ground, and in an instant the cannon sounded. It was all over. And she couldn't change that. Tears fell from her eyes as she stood up.

Terra looked back down at the altar. There was something she wanted to see…but she couldn't watch. She couldn't beg herself to see it, even if she tried. Her face twisted and her cheeks stained with tears, Terra stood motionless as the altar subliminally called to her. She tore her eyes off it and looked away. She couldn't look. She couldn't watch.

Feyot didn't deserve to die. She didn't even understand what had happened, and why Xion dragged Feyot all the way from the forest to the house. But she didn't care about Xion's motives. She only blamed herself. Her sword had mysteriously vanished, and that was Feyot's only salvation. She felt careless for losing it, but she didn't even understand how she _did _lose it. As she recalled, the sword had been safely hidden beneath a leaf pile high up in a tree. So how…?

Terra let out a quiet shriek. She thought of Xion, and how much she hated him. Her goal had been to kill the careers, but it was the careers who did the killing. And they didn't just kill anyone. They killed Cloud, and they killed Feyot. Xion and Lilac. How she hated them…

She would get her vengeance. She would kill them both if she had to. But…she had no weapons. This brought her mind back to her sword. If she could have without getting caught, she would have screamed. She was defenseless, she didn't have food or water, and Cloud's and Feyot's dead faces flashed in and out of her mind continuously. It wasn't fair that nothing went her way. She didn't want to complain, but she could hardly stand living any more.

In her mind, Terra replayed Cloud's death once again. She couldn't stop. His face…his contorted, lifeless face. Xion had bested him easily in a fight between pure strength and courageousness. Unfunnily, pure strength won.

And Xion won with a sword. It was her best weapon. It seemed like life was mocking her. Everything she strove for turned against her, and everything she respected was used for bad. She didn't understand why she deserved this. She didn't understand why so many loved ones had to die. She didn't understand why two of the dead tributes had to be her friends. She didn't understand why she was left stranded without a weapon.

But wait. A weapon? No…she did know where a weapon was. She had seen it…she had seen it fall. Yes…it was _Cloud's _weapon. He had battled Xion with a mace, and Xion had won. But then, Cloud dropped the mace…and as far as Terra could remember, no one picked it up…

It all seemed to make sense now. She had replayed Cloud's death in her mind dozens of times. How could she have overlooked this? He had a weapon, which he dropped near the cornucopia. It very well could have rolled underneath. Terra actually let out a small laugh as she thought about her stupidity. Yes, she had seen his weapon fall dozens of times. She would have kicked herself had she not felt so happy.

Terra made off out the altar room as quickly as she could. She was careful not to draw attention to her area, and she stood ready to battle anyone who approached her. From a window nearby she could see that the sun was coming up. How appropriate, she thought. She felt the sun coming up in her heart, as well.

The hallway she was in eventually led her to the cornucopia. But when she saw the room and the cataclysm-esque destruction within, she gasped very audibly. She had not heard an explosion, but it undoubtedly seemed that a bomb had gone off. The cornucopia was sinking into the floor and the second-floor balcony she was standing on seemed ready to collapse. She carefully picked her way over to the focal point of the calamity.

The cornucopia was on its side digging deep into the ground beneath. She didn't know what was underneath, and she hoped the mace didn't get lost in all the fragments of wood. Terra knelt down by the cornucopia and reached her hand down to touch its side. She had to lean over the edge of some half-eaten pieces of wood to reach the sunken colossus. She pushed down on the cornucopia with great strength to see if it budged. It didn't, but she didn't think her test had been very thorough, anyway.

But still, the girl jumped. She landed on the cornucopia and reached onto its ridges to keep herself from sliding off the side and into the foyer. She looked around the crater it had formed and looked. There had to have been a mace somewhere…

A few staff-like pieces of wood tricked her, which she threw to the side angrily. It had to be somewhere. Cloud was on the right side of the cornucopia and dropped the mace…so it should be somewhere on the right side…

Aha! Yes! She found it! It's end was barely visible from her vantage point, but still she managed to find it. She held the mace in both of her hands and looked down at it. It looked unused and untainted. It had an ornate design along its hilt and it glinted in the light the sun was shining though the entry windows. For once, Terra smiled. And then she cried. But they weren't tears of sadness.

**Qax Qionis (District 6 Male)**

Where was he? What happened? Didn't he have a weapon? Qax was trying to remember, but his memory was fleeting. He couldn't quite grasp what of his memory was real and what was false. He remembered fighting with someone…but was that simply a side effect of the Fear Vapors? He didn't know. He couldn't be so sure…

_I gotta hold on. I gotta hold onto my sanity. I don't know what happened…where's Apple? I went to look for resources, and then…I don't know. What happened? My head hurts…did someone hit me? Did…I don't know what those gases did to me…_

Qax shook his head rapidly to clear his mind. He looked around him; he was in a sort of gallery. There were pictures and sculptures adorning the walls and floors. It was as though he were in some sort of art museum. Why there needed to be this kind of room in their arena baffled him, but he assumed the game-makers wanted to make the mansion as extravagant as possible.

In the room, he looked for any kind of weapon. The sculptures were all too big to use as blunt objects, and even if he could remove a picture from its heavy frame, the frame would not be exactly a suitable weapon. He groaned. And on side-tables and in drawers where objects, even household ones, like vases and light fixtures, would be, there was nothing.

Qax peered out the window: the sun was coming up. Had he been gone that long? He must've left Apple alone for hours. And in the midst of his confusion, he may have missed many canon fires. He feared the worst: was his district partner still alive? He hoped she didn't think he abandoned her, although he admitted that it very much looked like he did.

Qax left the room as quickly as he could. He found a nearby staircase and began to descend to the second floor. As he approached a door leading out into the hallway, he heard some familiar voices: those of Atlas and Moon.

His heart jumped. He whirled around as he heard the voices getting closer, and stumbled as he did so. On his knees, he looked around him for any sort of protection. He began to crawl; he'd be able to fit underneath the other side of the staircase if he moved quickly. It was dark behind the stairs and musty and filled with cobwebs, but he dared not move.

And then the door opened. He held his breath. He was careful not to make any kind of movements; the creaky floor was loud. Moon and Atlas were discussing some sort of plan, but they were quiet and discreet. Qax didn't care about their plan, though; he cared about his life.

He heard them stop walking. He even _felt _them stop walking. Each step they had taken sent a tingle up his spine. But now, he knew they had stopped. His hands were shaking. If only he had a weapon, he'd feel much safer. He would have been able to overpower Atlas and push past Moon. He would at least have been able to leave unscathed…

He felt them moving again. The floorboards on the other side of the stairs creaked. But then…they were gone. He held his breath; they didn't go up the stairs, and they didn't leave through the door they entered. But their whispers were gone, as was the two shadows that were casted nearby. Qax was confused. He almost didn't want to move. He thought they were somehow tricking him. He was frightened and nervous…

In the heat of the moment, he peered out from behind the staircase and looked out. There was no one. They weren't hiding in the corner, and no one was on the stairs. He was alone. But how? He didn't hear the door open…

He wasn't going to question it, though. He stood up quickly and rushed out of the room. He flung the door open loudly and moved quickly down the hall, trying his best to make as little noise as possible.

He made way for the foyer. He knew that was where he left Apple. But when he got there, he stood in shock. The entire room had exploded. "What…?" He asked himself. The room looked like a mess, from the array of wood to the cornucopia half inside the floor. And when the checked the half in-tact closet, no one was there. "She must be alive," he whispered…

Qax carefully made his way down the dilapidated stairs. He used the nearly torn apart railing as a balance, and as light-footedly as he could made his way down to the bottom. What was left of the stairs remained.

He took the foyer door and exited the house. If he were Apple, he probably would've went running outside. That was where he chose to search for her. First, he made certain there was no one nearby. He couldn't be sure, but he figured that either everyone was inside or inside the dark forest to his left. And in front of him…was a pond. It was a pond he didn't know existed. He rushed to it as quickly as he could, realizing just how thirsty he was.

He kneeled down by the side of the water and looked in. The liquid didn't look particularly clean, but it would satisfy his thirst, he knew. Without a second thought, he dug both his hands deep into the water to make a cup.

And then he wretched back quickly, falling onto the ground. He let out a scream as a harsh-sounding fizz noise began to eat away the skin on both of his hands. They felt like they were on fire. He wanted to put them back into the water to cool them off, but of course that wasn't smart.

His skin began to blacken. He let out more screams as his skin hardened or disappeared. He tried to nurse his hands as best as he could, but the pain was always there. It was always on his mind, and it was painful. His hands and entire arms were shaking, and even his legs seemed to lose their strength. He couldn't even grab onto anything, his hands hurt so badly. He felt like he was going to collapse right there from the pain, but instead he rushed into the forest. He found a large grove of bushes, hid behind them, and waited. He waited for something, or anything. He waited for a parachute.

**Xion Macabre (District 2 Male)**

"How many are dead? Have you been counting?"

"Seven, I think," Lilac answered. "Is that…a lot?"

"Well, it's not enough," Xion said quickly. He sounded gruff and unhappy, but Lilac liked this. His anger typically fueled his desire to kill, and both she and he knew that killing was their top concern. "Don't drop your weapon," he said after a second. He held his sword very close to his face, ready to strike.

"Alright," she answered. He sickle was glinting with blood. It was Feyot's, which Lilac liked. She liked seeing the remains of her victims. "Where are we going?"

The two had been heading down one of the back hallways of the mansion. They were refreshed since they had their drinks and were more than eager to get on another killing spree. "We have two good weapons," Xion said, "so I think we should hunt. We're not gonna wait around all day. We gotta move! Everyone's scared of us! Think, we've killed two of the seven tributes so far. They fear us."

Lilac liked the sound of that. She liked the way he said it—with the dramatic inflections in his voice—and she liked the way he talked about them both. It was as if he referred to them as some inseparable entity. "Thank you…"

"What?" Xion asked. "For what?"

"Nothing," Lilac answered, her heart fluttering. She smiled to herself. _For the first time in these games, I'm happy. _Thinking of her happiness made her think of her wounded face. The blood on her cheek had dried and hurt only to the touch, but her head where Ricco whacked her was still throbbing.

But she couldn't complain. Not in front of Xion. And not in front of her potential sponsors, either. She didn't want to look like some sort of crybaby. So she kept her mouth quiet and kept her mind on the pain and suffering she would cause to her victims in the future. And a little bit of her attention was on Xion…

"Aigh!" Xion yelled. Lilac jumped, frightened. She slashed her sickle at the air and looked horrified at the career in front of her. He flailed his leg around, which appeared to be caught in some sort of trap.

"Are you—do you need help?!"

"No!" Xion yelled, kicking the trap at the wall. It broke into dozens of pieces, which showered down onto the floor. Xion leaned against the wall to steady himself, for the trap had caught him above the heel. "That thing wasn't even properly set up." But still, the teeth had clamped down hard on the back of his left heel, leaving him slightly wounded and limping.

"Let me take your arm," Lilac offered. She grabbed Xion's arm, who readily took it, and walked him forward. They tested out how well he could walk. He could manage, but it hurt. He found himself limping, and when he tried to run, he had to stop shortly after, for an intense throbbing in the back of his leg was yelling at him to stop.

"I didn't even see that thing," Xion muttered. He analyzed his leg, which was bleeding slightly. He rubbed his blood off with his shirt sleeve and looked at Lilac, who looked concerned. She also looked angry.

"If I find out who put that there, I'll kill 'em!" She then took Xion's hand and continued to lead him down the hall. The two careers were angry. No one, not even another career, should have been able to lay a finger on them. "I'll kill 'em."

"If I don't first," Xion said, muttering. "It wasn't even set up the right way…"

**September Realer (District 14 Female)**

"_Mr. Realer, I suggest that your daughter spend more time with other girls of her age. She needs…human communication."_

"_Is that all?"_

"_That is what I suggest. I will monitor her progress as time goes on. We may need to add another day for therapy a week. I'd like you to talk to your wife about this."_

"_I understand."_

…

"_What are you drawing now? Let's play. Let's play with the dollhouse."_

"_I don't want to play with your dolls, Margot."_

"_Why won't you just be normal?! I heard that your parents are forcing you to do this because they think you're crazy. Everyone thinks you're crazy. They say that your sister is the daughter your parents wish you were. And I want to be nice to you, and all you do is yell at me! Put down your stupid drawings!"_

"_Put down your stupid dolls!"_

…

"_She escaped! Our own daughter escaped!"_

"_Well, where could she have gone? How could she have escaped? You make no sense!"_

"_I tell you! She is gone! Come, look for yourself!"_

"_I don't need to look! Where did she go? She…"_

"_I don't care where she went. Leave her be. Let her do what she will. The Peacemakers won't care about her. They'll think she's crazy; she is! They won't listen to her, either. They'll send her packing for district fourteen, undoubtedly."_

…

"_Hello, Dad."_

"_Sep-September? What are you doing here?"_

"_I've come back."_

"_Couldn't this have waited 'til after work? I'm a little busy. I…you shouldn't be in here, September. There's dangerous machinery in here. You'll get yourself killed."_

"_Ironic the things people say, isn't it?"_

"_What?"_

"_I said that _it's ironic the things people say_."_

"_I don't understand you, September."_

"_You will…"_

That dumb Margot, September thought. She was so stubborn. She always wanted her way. She always wanted to do things the way she wanted to do them. September wanted to slow down and live in the moment, but stupid Margot was always there to pester her. She hated Margot. She hated her almost as much as she hated her sister.

And her parents…they grew afraid of her. They grew afraid of her over time, and she couldn't stand it. Se couldn't stand the way they looked at her with their horrified faces. She didn't understand why she scared people. She hated them. She hated the people who feared her.

September stood in a hallway. But it wasn't a true hallway; it was a secret passage. It was a secret passage that connected the kitchen to the billiard room. She didn't know if anyone would ever find her there, but she didn't care. She was waiting. She was waiting for her next kill.

**Vyxsin Esher (District 7 Female)**

"We need something to keep the poison in," Ricco said. "Like a bucket, or…"

"A bucket? Where are we going to find one of those?"

Ricco shook his head. He and Vyxsin were a mere five feet high in a tree, perched next to a dewy leaf. The "dew" on the leaf was red and unhealthy-looking. Indeed, it was poison. It was the Quell Drop, which could eat away someone's skin and infest their bloodstream in only a few minutes.

Next to the dewy leaves was a hive of Scissor Wasps, a bug native to many recent Hunger Games that deposited Quell Drop deposits in large amounts. This hive was filled with the poison as a bee's would be with honey. Ricco warned and reminded Vyxsin that the Quell Drop was extremely dangerous to the touch. She knew that already, but it couldn't hurt to take extra precautions.

"Can't we just take the hive?" Vyxsin asked. "I mean, the Quell Drop is only on the inside."

"That is true," Ricco said slowly. He wasn't sure what to say. "But the bugs…won't they get mad? Their natural instinct is to probably inject their poison when threatened."

"It may be," Vyxsin said, "but I remember reading a passage that a single Scissor Wasp's poison was not enough to kill a person, let alone make them feel any side effects. The Quell Drop must be taken in larger doses for serious side effects to occur…"

Ricco looked at her seriously, then asked, "And what about hundreds of angry Scissor Wasps?"

Vyxsin's face flushed. "In that case…the victim might die. I don't know."

Ricco laughed a little bit out loud. Vyxsin rolled her eyes playfully at his laughing and turned away, smiling. Ricco let out a soft chuckle and then said, "You know, I wish we had water right now."

Vyxsin nodded her head. "Ricco, do you remember that bird from earlier? The one that tried to attack us? That was…odd. What was that? And why…did it dive into the water, killing itself?"

Ricco was at a loss for words. He didn't recognize that species of bird, and he couldn't explain its actions, either. He wondered the same things, but his wonderment bore no conclusions. If anything, it just made him more confused. "There are many strange things going on. I can't explain it…"

Vyxsin shrugged. "It really was a beautiful bird."

"It was," Ricco agreed. "I will admit the Capitol does have a knack for creating some really cool looking things. But…most of them are designed to kill you. That really takes away from the 'beauty.' "

Vyxsin smiled. "I wonder what it was called. I wonder if I will ever know," she said, melancholy. Thinking about the game and her possible death made her sad. "And will I ever be able to draw again? Will I return home and get to draw wonderful drawings of that bird? Or of something else beautiful?"

Ricco wasn't good at handling intense, emotional moments. He shrugged awkwardly and sighed. He felt bad for her. He really did. He just didn't know how to help her out.

The girl wiped a few tears away from her eyes. "Remember, Ricco, that I will never kill you. I don't care what happens to me; I will never kill you. We can win together, remember? We can win together."

"I hope so," Ricco said solemnly. He was sad and couldn't even offer some words of advice, for he didn't know what to say. He just stared down at the ground from among the tree and sighed loudly. Vyxsin's talking was beginning to make him really think about how quickly his life could end.

"But…forget about it," she said. She wiped away a few more tears. "Let's go find something to put the poison in. We better go quickly if we want to live." Vyxsin hopped down from the tree, her wildly strewn black hair bouncing as she did. Ricco followed her down, but stopped suddenly. He turned to Vyxsin.

"Look!" He pointed up at the sky between the trees. As if by magic, a medium-sized parachute descended slowly to the ground in front of them. Vyxsin's face was one of awe, and Ricco's was one of sheer happiness. Someone up there must've liked them. He was thankful.

"Open them!" Vyxsin said excitedly. She glanced around once before scooping up the parachute to make sure no one was spying on them. She was certain no one was. "I wonder…" She opened up the contents of the parachute and found something for which she was very grateful.

"What is it?"

Vyxsin held two things up in front of her: water bottles.

"Incredible!" Ricco said excitedly. He took one of the bottles from Vyxsin's outstretched hands and opened it immediately. He chugged about half of it quickly while Vyxsin did the same, and then looked down at his partner. He felt refreshed. He wanted to keep drinking, but he didn't want to consume all of the water bottle's contents so quickly.

"And lookee here," Vyxsin said. "We can use these as containers. Quell Drop doesn't eat away materials. It only eats away flesh!"

"Quick," Ricco said, "Let's combine our water bottles. We need to save some water. We could put the Quell Drop in the other one." He took Vyxsin's water bottle and deposited the contents of his into hers. This left him with an empty water bottle and a nearly full one. He handed her the full one. "Let's get going," he said. He began to climb the tree.

Vyxsin followed, but she had a bewildered looking on her face. "How exactly are we supposed to get the Quell Drop into the bottle?" she wondered. "I mean, I guess we could just pour it from the hive," she suggested.

"I suppose that'd work."

Vyxsin looked at the Scissor Wasp hive and shuddered. There was so much venom in there that they could kill every last player in the arena. "Do you want to pour while I hold the bottle?"

"We should do it the other way around. It's safer to pour. You should pour, don't you think?" She didn't want to reject his offer, but she didn't necessarily want to give him the more difficult task. This also stressed her out a little bit, too: if she accidentally poured the liquid from the hive onto his hands, he would be dead if he didn't receive an antidote.

"I'm scared," she said quietly.

"Don't be," Ricco consoled her. "I'll be alright. Trust me. You just have to pour that thing."

"But what if my hands slip?" she asked. "What if…I…I kill you?"

Ricco shook his head. "You won't kill me. And your hands won't slip. I know they won't. You're an artist, anyway. That requires a lot of dexterity in the hands, doesn't it? You'll be fine."

Vyxsin didn't seem so sure, but she admitted that Ricco might be right. The girl looked at the hive and placed a hand on its side. She picked it up, her hands shaking ever so slightly, and began to test the weight around. When she was confident she wouldn't mess up, she told Ricco to hold the water bottle straight up.

"You got this," he whispered. She began to pour. The red liquid came rushing out the hive like a waterfall of blood. It was a very unattractive thing to look at, but he knew the poison would be of utmost importance. Vyxsin kept her hands balanced, too. Her eyes were focused on a single point and didn't move, blink, or flinch. "The little bugs are getting angry," Ricco said, watching as several Scissor Wasps flew from the hive and out into the air. They were exceptionally tiny, but over the course of a few seconds thousands of them began to swarm out. Ricco was caught off-guard. He yelled, "Stop!" to Vyxsin and pulled the water bottle from underneath the hive.

The wasps swarmed around Vyxsin. She squinted her eyes and screamed out. She couldn't tell if they were attacking her, but there were so many of them and they sounded angry. She reeled back away from Ricco once the water bottle was removed and threw her head around back and forth. The bugs continued to swarm, angry. The Quell Drop was still pouring out the hive, and when Vyxsin realized this, she pulled her hands up to steady the hive again.

But she did it too rapidly. Splatters of red flung from the hive onto her arms. She screamed instantly and dropped the hive, kicking herself away from the bugs swarming around her. She lost her balance and she, too, fell out of the tree. On the ground, she found the bugs dispersing. But her arms…

She let out a large scream. Ricco jumped from the tree to help her. Her forearms were bright red and burning. The flesh was disappearing and in its place blood escaped her arms. Ricco's mind was rushing. Vyxsin screamed. The poison was working its way into her bloodstream and attacking her from the inside out. She began to cough up blood, and soon her entire body writhed in pain. She twisted and squirmed. Ricco held his head in agony as he watched her. He prayed for some way to save her, but he knew it was too late.

Tears escaped Vyxsin's eyes as the pain began to dissipate. She was on her stomach bleeding out. Ricco stood nearby horrified. Her pain was dwindling…

Vyxsin said something to him. "Ricco…you must win…for me…and for your wife."

"No!" He cried out, kneeling next to her. Vyxsin closed her eyes. She no longer felt pain. But she knew she was going to die. A false hope and sense of security and painlessness was the last thing a person felt before the Quell Drop killed them.

_Boom!_

Ricco's hands we over his mouth. He stared down at the once healthy and kind-hearted person he had become friends with. A wave of emotions rushed over him. He stood there motionlessly for a second, waiting for something to happen. He was waiting for a release. He wanted to be released from that moment. A tear fell from his eye.

He remembered something: "We can win together, remember? We can win together."

But they couldn't. Even when she was alive, they couldn't. The Capitol wasn't that kind.

**Rave Klipper (District 9 Male)**

Rave was digging through several old-looking boxes in the hidden room underneath the library. A few minutes prior, he and Watch had found ancient parchment that seemed to diagram the locations of many hidden pathways inside the mansion. The parchment depicted each of the four main floors along with the basement levels, and showed interconnections between each room that no one could have ever dreamed of existed.

"Watch, did that map explain how to _find _the hidden pathways?"

"No," Watch said quickly, "it just showed that they were there. But how to actually access them are anyone's guess."

"I see…" Rave stood motionless for a second. He had a feeling that all of the clues within the secret room had been depleted, so searching more inside the boxes proved to be useless. He sighed and then said, "Watch, I am so thirsty."

"I know," Watch said, believing him. "I am too, but…"

"We need to find water!" Rave said with exasperation in his voice. The two had been searching on and off for water for almost half a day, but they had found nothing. Rave was thirsty, and the more he thought about the water, the more thirsty he became. "And this room is so dry…"

"It is," Watch agreed. He wanted to keep searching, but even he had to admit that his thirst was getting to him. He wondered if he was so thirsty because the thought that water was not present was always on his mind.

"Let's go," Rave pleaded. "We gotta go. I'm going crazy…"

"Alright," Watch agreed. He seemed reluctant, but he followed Rave up the winding tunnel nonetheless. With him he held the candle, his bow, and the piece of parchment he had found. When they reached the top, he realized something. "I remember now! We were supposed to check that room with the open window."

Rave looked at him in slight dismay. "Do you think there'll be water up there?"

"Not particularly. Actually, there could be anything up there. If someone died in that room, all there stuff is just laying there. We ought to go check. That window was opened for a reason…"

Rave didn't seem especially excited, but he would do anything to keep his mind off of the water. He followed Watch outside the library (after the candle had been returned to its rightful place), and the duo navigated a few staircases here and there until they finally reached the fourth floor.

"Do you remember where the room was?" Rave asked.

"I might. It was on the left side. And it was near the back." He pointed down a hallway and called for Rave to follow him. He held his bow steady by his waist and tried to look menacing with it. Sadly, he looked even more physically inept with the bow held awkwardly at his side. "Let's check here."

The first room they entered appeared to be completely in order. There was no open window, either. "Not here," Rave commented. Watch shut the door and whispered for him to follow him. The two tried the next door, and when they did, they were shocked to see what was in the inside.

The room was a mess of balled-up sheets, a half-on-the-bed mattress, and broken lights and pictures. At the far side of the room, Watch caught sight of what he had been looking for: the open window. "Someone was in here."

"What happened?" Rave wondered. "Did a bomb go off in here?"

Watch shrugged. "Something bad happened in here." He tiptoed over pieces of broken floorboards and examined the bed. It didn't take him long to notice an object protruding from next to one of the pillows. "A spear."

Rave looked down at the spear he held in his hand. "Two spears."

"That's good," Watch commented. He went over to pick it up. "It appears to be ever so slightly snapped, but…it should work fine."

"Good," Rave said.

"Let's take this with us."

"Anything else?" Rave asked. "Is there a bag? Water? Anything?" He looked desperate. He searched underneath and around the bed. There appeared to be nothing. Watch could tell he was getting flustered, but said nothing. Rave looked helpless and worried. He needed a drink. He was driving himself insane with his thoughts.

"Nothing," Watch answered. "Let's go," he said. "Let's go back to the library."

"Again?" Rave asked. "We oughta do something useful!"

"We are!" Watch said. "Think, Rave: we started this game with nothing. I found this bow and you found that spear, and now we found another spear. We also found a secret room that led us to the knowledge of more secret passages. We are doing fine."

"But…"

"Please," Watch said, pleading. "We need to go about this intelligently. "Just wait. I'll get you water."

"When?"

Watch looked wordless. "I don't know. I don't know…"

**Fetch Zimmer (District 14 Male)**

Fetch, Angel, and Stark were all at their campsite within the forest. Fetch was constantly watching Angel, who was constantly looking away and talking to Stark. The male from district fourteen quickly grew tired of their discussions and so interrupted with his own. "It's great our little bomb thing worked."

"Yeah, I heard a canon," Stark said. "I wonder who it was."

"We haven't really seen many of the others," Angel noted. "It's like we're protected in here, or something. I mean…"

"What?" Fetch wondered. "I'm sure others know of our location. They're just intimidated by us. I mean, how many other alliances of three are there? And the three of us are careers, so that makes us especially strong-looking."

" 'Careers,' you say?" Stark asked. "There are only three career districts, Fetch."

Fetch grumbled at him. He shot a nasty look his way and uttered, "District fourteen tributes are stronger than careers. So I suggest you shut it."

"But if I recall correctly," Stark continued, trying to grate on Fetch's nerves, "the Capitol refuses to call district fourteen tributes careers. Why is that, again? Oh, yes. It is because half of the people in district fourteen are crazy…and the other half are in jail."

Fetch stood up and shook his head. His face was red with anger, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he walked away, a little way down into the forest. Then, he stopped and waited. He was waiting for something very specific…

To console their third teammate, Angel moved from her spot in a tree and said, "I better go talk to him." She knew Fetch trusted her, so she figured she'd be the best for the job. Besides, she wanted the team back to its full capacity. She had a feeling the games were going to get tougher, and they'd only be able to survive if they had everyone in a friendlier mood.

"Fetch," she called out to him.

"Yeah?" he asked once she stood by his side. Then, he quickly changed the subject. "You need a weapon, Angel. You don't even have anything. Here." He pulled out the knife he had from his pocket and gave it to her. In his left arm he still held his bow, the weapon he wanted to keep. "Now you're safe."

She thanked him awkwardly and said, "Fetch, are you mad?"

"Mad?" he asked. "At Stark? Yes, but I don't care. I want to talk to you. Actually, I have something I want to show you." He motioned for her to follow him. She did so incredulously, but kept herself ready to attack him if he tried to pull anything on her. But in her heart she knew he never would.

"Where are we going?" Angel wondered. Fetch was walking in a wide circle around their camp. He was avoiding Stark's detection and needed to get on the other side of their camp.

"You'll see." He left it at that, and the discussion died down.

Angel fiddled with her knife for a little while and then said, "I wonder what the other careers are up to."

"I dunno," Fetch said quickly. "Who cares, though? We're stronger than they are. They'll come to us eventually, and we'll finish 'em off. And those fools from district ten, as well."

"Sapphire is dead," Angel reminded. "And Torque…he had the nerve to propose an alliance with me at the beginning of the game! Of course, I turned his offer down and made a mockery of him. He doesn't even have his precious Sapphire."

"Some tributes these days just don't have the right to call themselves careers," Fetch said. "Actually, only careers and people from district fourteen should call themselves careers." He paused and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Angel. "And for that matter, there've been a lot of wimpy careers the last few years. In this Hunger Games, included…"

Angel didn't say anything. She bit her lip and turned her face away. "I heard some strange noises last night. Coming from deeper in the forest."

"Hm?" Fetch wondered.

"Like…slithering. Or…I don't know," she continued.

"Neither do I," Fetch said. "Probably some Capitol trick. Forget it. This way," he said, pointing in another direction. Finally, he stopped. And when he did, he showed Angel exactly what she needed to see.

"Jape?!" she asked. "What…what is going on?"

Jape was bound by the wrists and ankles with thick sinews and vines. He looked like he was in a lot of pain (he was bleeding out a lot), and he was struggling to free himself. He wasn't yelling, nor was he speaking. He probably didn't dare it.

Fetch just laughed. Angel grew angry. "What is this?! Why…why haven't you killed him? Why leave him with a chance to escape?!"

"Because Jape is my friend."

Jape shot an angry glare at Fetch. They were far from friends.

"What?" Angel asked. She didn't know how to respond.

"Jape here is going to be a big help to us," Fetch continued. "You see, he is our ticket to having a successful alliance. Do you know why? Because he will answer our questions."

"Fetch, you—"

"Like I said, he will answer."

"Answer _what_?"

Fetch looked at Angel and laughed. He then shook his head at her, as though she were a child doing something very naive. "Angel, you must remember what I told you about Stark before. Before you set off the bomb."

"That he…isn't a fighter? That he's weak and will hold us back?"

"Yes," Fetch continued, "that is what he will do. He looks tough, but I think he's afraid of a fight. In the training room, he seemed reluctant to fight me whenever I asked, and he always just twirled some stuff around. He's afraid of conflict, however."

"He—no."

"Yes," Fetch said. "And don't you remember? The longer you stay by his side…the harder it will be for you to kill him in the future. You can't make friends in this game."

Angel frowned. "So are you going to betray me, too?"

"No," Fetch shook his head. "I would never. That is…absurd. I want to live with you. And when you and I are the last two standing, we can show the Capitol just what we're made of. We won't kill each other."

Angel didn't seem too convinced. "You could say the same thing about Stark and me. Why are you the person I have to share the victory with?"

"Because…" Fetch warned. "You don't want to betray me. And you know well that Stark will never survive to the end. He'll die off, and then you'll be alone. Better we kill 'im now."

Angel just shook her head, and as she did, Fetch released Jape from his prison and began to walk him back through the forest whence they came. "Angel, grab that log right there. No, that one." He pointed to a large log-like object that looked heavy. "That'll be Jape's weapon."

"Wait," Angel said, "I don't really under—"

"Stark and Jape will do battle."

Angel didn't respond. The color in her face flushed out. Jape just tried to squirm away, but Fetch had a strong grip on him that wasn't relenting. "Please, let me go!" Jape begged. "I…I promise I won't bother you."

"No," Fetch said. He continued to lead Jape and Angel back to their camp, and when he got there, Stark grew both confused and excited at the same time.

"Well, it looks like you found someone," Stark noted. "But…you could've just killed him. You…didn't need to bring him back here." Stark just showed confusion on his face.

"Stark—" Angel just got cut off.

"Stark, do you still have those shurikens?"

Stark looked at Fetch with an odd little stare. "Why, yes."

"Good!"

Fetch pushed Jape out from his grasp toward Stark. Then he grabbed the log Angel had collected from her hand and gave it to Jape. "Here," he said. "You better not try anything funny. Or else I'll send an arrow through your skull." He held up his bow and arrows and gave Jape a look. "Fight him."

Stark backed away. "What? What are you doing?" he asked.

"Won't you fight?" Fetch queried.

"I—"

"Please, stop this," Angel pleaded.

"No!" Fetch yelled. "You two. Fight!" he yelled. "Stark, your job is to kill Jape. Jape, if you kill Stark, we'd be kind enough as to let you go. You'll survive."

Jape looked down at the log in his hands. He didn't like the idea of having to beat someone to death. And besides, Stark had a ranged weapon. If he could throw those ninja stars well, Jape knew he'd be dead. For that matter, he planned on dying then, anyway.

"I don't want to," Jape said quietly. Fetch waved him away.

"I warned you," the man from district fourteen said loudly.

Stark looked uncomfortable, but pulled out his shurikens. He didn't really know how to wield them, so he tossed them around in his hand for a minute and then launched one at Jape. It flew passed him and landed amongst some trees.

"Careful there, Starky," Fetch said. "You almost took my head off."

"Shut up," Stark said, biting his lip. He moved to the side and threw another one, but that one was off-target also.

"You need to _aim_," Fetch reminded him. "You see, usually people don't just throw things wherever th—"

"Fetch, shut up!" he yelled, ignoring his shurkiens and running straight at the district twelve male. Jape shrieked and tried smashing the log down on Stark, but the career was too fast, and was on him. He knocked Jape down like a bull, and went toppling down, himself. Jape swung his log at Stark, which hit him in the back. Stark, on the ground, picked himself back up and ran over to Jape, and then kicked him hard in the stomach. The tribute flew backward.

Jape was back on his feet, coughing from the wound he just took. He swung his log wildly again, trying to remember the tactics September had taught him when she was demonstrating her ball-and-chain. He tried to catch Stark off balance, and he almost did. But in the end, the career was too fast, blocked the log, and knocked Jape back down to the ground again.

"Let him go," someone said. Stark turned quickly. Jape lay withered on the ground.

It was Terra.

"What?" Stark asked. "Get her outta here, Fetch," Stark said quickly, trying to turn back to Jape.

"No," Fetch said. "I want to see this."

Angel pulled out the knife Fetch had given her, but Fetch quickly told her to put it away. Angel did so reluctantly, and left Stark in between Terra and Jape. "Come here, Jape," Terra said, calling to the fallen tribute. He struggled to stand up, but then rushed past Stark to Terra. The mace she was holding looked threatening. "It looks like to want a battle."

"I…" Stark stuttered. He looked at Fetch.

"He does," Fetch said. "Give him one!"

In but a second, Terra was flying at Stark, swinging her mace masterfully. It wasn't a sword, but it would do. Stark backed away, defenseless. He pulled out his ninja stars again, but after throwing a few and missing, he knew the attempt was pointless. He scampered on the ground, looking for any weapon he could find. He picked up a medium-sized branch and blocked a shot from Terra at the last moment.

Stark then swung his weapon at Terra, hitting her in the chest. She winced, but she was barely wounded. She swung at him again, and he blocked with the stick once more. This time, however, the branch began to splinter. Stark backed away as he saw this, but Terra was too fast. She struck him in the side, and the sharp prongs of the mace stuck in his side. He winced as she pulled it back out.

"Stop that!" Angel charged toward Terra with her knife in hand. The girl reacted quickly, but Angel sliced her left arm and blood immediately went seeping onto the foliage below. For a moment the two girls swung at each other, but then Terra soon realized she was outnumbered.

"Jape, run!" she yelled. The young man did so, and Terra herself began to make her way to follow him. She kicked Angel's leg out from underneath her and ran. Stark didn't follow, since he didn't have a weapon, and Fetch was so caught off guard the two arrows he shot narrowly missed Terra.

And then there was silence. Somehow, no one was dead. But Stark didn't look happy. He held his side as the blood continued to slowly seep out. But he didn't speak. He only stared at Fetch. He hated Fetch.

**Moon Vexus (District 1 Female)**

"Hurry, let's get under the trees," the female urged. Atlas followed rapidly but incredulously. Still, he didn't have a weapon, and the idea of hiding in the forest seemed unsettling to him. "Atlas, do you want my club? You can take it."

"No," Atlas warned. "With your hand, if we get in a fight, it'd be better that you have a weapon than you have to fistfight. That'd hurt."

Moon acknowledged he was probably right and stepped into the veil of the forest. It was very hot out, and it was only the morning. She was taking the lead, holding her club high, but there didn't appear to be anyone around.

But there had to have been…

"What's that?" Atlas asked. He was sure he heard a noise. "Did you hear that?"

"It sounds like someone. C'mon!" Moon urged, sneaking and hiding behind a nearby tree. It sounded like people were running…

At before she knew it, Jape and Terra came bounding through the forest, a log in Jape's hands and a mace in Terra's hands. "Careful!" Atlas warned. "Terra's a pretty good fighter."

"Hardly," Moon scoffed.

"Ready…go!" Atlas bounded from behind his tree and rushed out. Jape and Terra were both caught off guard, and Jape tripped over a stone as he tried to stop himself. Terra backed away, fearing Atlas might have a weapon; she was scared, though, about what was coming behind her. For all she knew, Fetch and Angel were on her tail…

And then Moon emerged, her club in her hand. She swung tauntingly at Jape, who backed away quickly. Before she could swing again, she heard sticks cracking behind her. "Wha?" She turned, and there stood Spade, who had broken through a thicket of trees and found herself in the middle of a battle.

With Atlas and Moon caught off-guard, Terra yelled, "Let's run, Jape!" She almost hoped Fetch with his bow and arrow was after them, for maybe then he'd find himself in a battle with the two careers. Terra grabbed Jape's hand and rushed to the left, making a wide curve around Atlas. The male career tried to follow, having his eye on the weaker and more defenseless tribute.

Moon stared at Spade for a second, and then yelled a battle cry as she swung down her club, hardly missing the tribute from the third district. Spade swiftly turned on her heels, running quickly, but not too quickly. She held her baseball bat behind her to fend off more swipes from Moon's weapon.

After a few steps, Moon caught up. She swung wildly at Spade again, and backed the girl toward a tree. Spade blocked the blows with her other weapon, her mallet, and tried her best to get some of her own attacks in. But she couldn't find the opportunity. Moon was violent and screeching, and even though her hand looked like it was in a lot of pain, she kept on swinging.

Finally, Spade broke off into a run, but not until she riskily whacked Moon in the side with her mallet. The career toppled, and Spade ran. It was her chance to get away, no doubt! She huffed, the mass of her two weapons holding her down a lot. She ran and ran, and the trees around her seemed to whizz by. She was always fast, but she never turned around. She just listened. Was Moon following her? After nearly a minute of running, Spade turned. Moon was not there. She had escaped.

Moon was on the ground. The mallet's force to her side caused her to fall to the ground, and as she did, her head fell hard onto a tough-skinned log. She lay there unconscious, with her district partner running about, chasing down Jape and Terra. She lay in the middle of a clearing, the sun beating down on her with each coming minute…

* * *

"_Oohhh…that…was so painful."_

"_Do you feel pain anymore?"_

"_No…I feel…good."_

"_As I should have known."_

"_But…am I…dead? I must be…"_

"_You are dead, surely. But…death is not the end."_

"_I…I don't understand."_

"_In time, you will fully comprehend."_

"_Oh…"_

"_You were very strong in the arena, I must say."_

"_I was? But…I didn't do anything. The most worthwhile thing I did was die."_

"_Worthwhile? No."_

"_But I was not strong."_

"_You were. You possessed something that few tributes possess."_

"_I did?"_

"_You possessed hope. You possessed the will to leave, because you believed in something better. You had hope that both you and your district partner could live."_

"_But…now I am dead."_

"_But you inspired others, as well."_

"_You mean…"_

"_Yes. You're ally. You may not have survived the Hunger Games, but perhaps you have helped others."_

"_I hope."_

"_We shall see. But still, you must know you were strong."_

"_I…do believe, I suppose."_

"_That is good. You know, you have made your family proud."_

"_How could I? I killed myself by accident. I…that was the worst way to die. People will tell stories of my failure and mock me as the person who killed themselves. I…"_

"_You didn't really kill yourself. You were not looking for death today."_

"_Wait…I made my family proud?"_

"_You did. You always have. Even before the Hunger Games."_

"_But…"_

"_I know it doesn't seem like it, but sometimes people are misleading. And more importantly, sometimes people don't understand the truth or meaning behind their own words. You have a lot of people who love you."_

"_I…I don't know what to say. Thank you, though. This…has enlightened me."_

"_Surely. Now…I must ask if you are ready to depart."_

"_I will be soon."_

"_Is there anything else you'd like to take care of? Do you have more questions?"_

"_Yes. Who are you?"_

"_I am a dreamer. I dream for good things to happen. I dream that things don't have to be as bad as they seem."_

"_I…I understand."_

"_Now, Vyxsin, you will always be remembered for your hope and belief that the Hunger Games could be a better game. You wished for better things for the tributes. You are an inspiration to all…"_


End file.
